Over the next few days, we’re going to be publishing the stories behind the 2021 eBay for Business Awards winners. This year the Community Hero Award & Grand Prize Winner was St Rocco’s Hospice with the award being accepted by Daniel Taylor, their ecommerce manager, and this is their story:
St Rocco’s Hospice
St Rocco’s Hospice offers palliative care to all who need it in Warrington. The hospice itself costs £11,000 a day to operate, with a large proportion of this funding generated through the retail arm of the charity, which includes its eBay shop and 10 bricks and mortar shops in the area.
eBay has been a part of St Rocco’s fundraising since 2006, but it has become more significant since the appointment of an ecommerce manager, Daniel Taylor, at the charity in 2019. After joining St Rocco’s, Daniel has worked hard to build the ecommerce side of the charity from a room above one of the charity shops.
When the pandemic hit, and all physical shops were closed, shop managers were quickly brought in to support Daniel with the ecommerce side of the business. These managers were trained to research, list and build on their product knowledge.
During some weeks of lockdown, Daniel and his team took in excess of £3000 in turnover for the charity. When physical shops reopened, the shop managers went back to their day jobs but volunteers stepped in to help Daniel with the eBay store. St Rocco’s also took on two trainees with the government’s Kickstart scheme.
The next steps for Daniel and the team include moving to a new warehouse and continuing to generate well-needed funds for St Rocco’s.
“We’re thrilled to have won the Community Hero and Grand Prize awards at this year’s eBay for Business Awards. The pandemic has been an incredibly tough time for everyone, but especially for charities who have been hit hard by store closures, so to be recognised for our achievements this year is brilliant. eBay has played a huge role in helping to fund the vital work that St Rocco’s does, over lockdown and in the months since. Now, we’re focused on growing our eBay offering so we can support St Rocco’s and the Warrington community for years to come.”
– Daniel Taylor, ecommerce manager, St Rocco’s Hospice
