The Bentham Hub raised thousands of pounds for charities

It would have meant another empty retail unit in the town. The bakery nearby had left previously. 

However, when her parents died, Liz knew that she could use the space to do something positive: "I said to my sister let's sell their furniture in here and give the proceeds to the hospice."

Sharon (left) helps market the shop and Lesley (right) runs the accounts (Image: Newsquest)

When Russia's invasion of Ukraine happened, it changed everything: "All of sudden the war started, we sold one thing and put it in the window, and everyday people started bringing things in. In one month we raised £7560 for Ukraine." 

As Liz made the donation to the Red Cross, one buyer was interested in taking the unit. The deal fell through, but by that point 'things were going so well' that Liz and her friends decided to keep going. 

The shop is run by a large team of volunteers (Image: Newsquest)

Now at the end of the year 'The Bentham Hub' has raised thousands of pounds for local charities across north Yorkshire, and it has a team of 26 volunteers. 

Each month, the Hub donates £2000 to a chosen charity. Organisations such as St John's Hospice, High Bentham playing fields, St John's Church in Low Bentham, and the Great North Air Ambulance have been beneficiaries.

Lesley said that the Hub has helped bring this part of the high street 'back to life' (Image: Newsquest)

Any surplus money covers the bills, is re-invested into the shop, or is carried over into the next month's donation. 

Liz Brown runs the shop with her friends Sharon Haslam and Lesley Barker. Sharon said: "What’s magical is the different skill base, Liz has been in retail for a lot of years, Lesley worked in a bank, and my base is in communities as I’ve got a communities degree. The three of us gelled! It’s funny how it happened. People donate quality stuff, nothing goes to landfill. We can get worried about being inundated.”

Sharon says that none of the items they receive goes to landfill (Image: Newsquest)

Sharon's presence on social media has helped market the Hub, and now people from outside Bentham are coming in to donate or to purchase items. 

Lesley said: “If you look at the surrounding areas the next shop like this would be in Settle or Kirkby Lonsdale. People have said that it’s brought life back to the centre of Bentham. Nobody came down to the centre and now this end is the busiest part of the village.”

Many of the older residents came to the shop to buy their Christmas items (Image: Newsquest)

An unexpected benefit of the shop is that it has made it cheaper for older residents in the community to buy dinner sets and presents for Christmas. The items donated are high quality, with many almost being new, but are sold for often below half the retail price.

According to the women, the plan is to keep the Hub going indefinitely and potentially give it registered status. Lesley said that The Charity Commission wanted to look at how much revenue the Hub was generating over a year before taking an application further. 

Sharon, Lesley, and Liz (Image: Newsquest)

More immediately, the Hub is expanding its operations. The bakery has come back to life - the team got it ready as a bookshop just in time for Christmas.