The reopening on Monday of 'non-essential' shops in Windsor brought particular joy to the staff and volunteers at the town's hospice.

The Thames Hospice charity shops - although selling mainly 'non-essential' goods - are essential when it comes to raising vital funds for the venue in Hatch Lane, as it cares for people with life limiting diseases.

All 22 of the charity’s stores have been closed since March in accordance with the UK Government’s lockdown measures during the coronavirus pandemic, resulting in a loss of £800,000 for the hospice.

On Monday nine opened again to socially distanced crowds of eager shoppers and supporters - the rest will follow on June 29.

Thames Hospice's chief executive Debbie Raven was joined by the Royal Borough's mayor Cllr Sayonara Luxton and award winning Windsor based Instagram celebrities Whitney and Megan Bacon-Evans as the store in Peascod Street welcomed back customers.

Julie Rowley, director of retail at Thames Hospice, said: “We were thrilled with the amazing turn out. Thank you so much to our special guests and to our wonderful loyal customers for supporting us. It was a very successful day of trading across the nine shops we opened.

"It is fantastic to be back open for business raising vital income for the hospice once again. We can’t wait to reopen the rest of our shops and welcome back even more customers."

Customers will find some changes. Numbers will be limited with changing rooms closed and a one way system inside. Volunteers will serve behind perspex screens.

All donated items will be quaranteened for 72 hours after cleaning in line with official recommendations.

All shops which have reopened will now also be accepting donations between the hours of 9.30am and 12.30pm.

For further information on the Thames Hospice shop reopenings, visit www.thameshospice.org.uk/shopwithus