The East Anglian Children’s Hospice is reopening the first of its charity shops this morning, after months of closure.

The hospice, which has stores across Norfolk and Suffolk, has opened a number of shops up for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic hit.

Stores in Bury St Edmunds, Hadleigh, Framlingham, Lowestoft, Saxmundham and Woodbridge are among the first waves of stores reopening their doors.

In a statement on its website the charity said that the shops were being opened in a gradual and phased manner to ensure staff and customer safety; further stores are expected to open soon.

The reopenings come after the charity announced earlier this year that it was losing around £100,000 a week because of the coronavirus.

The charity described the pandemic in March as an “overwhelming” challenge and said that its financial forecasts were “extremely concerning”.

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The hospice was forced to cancel many of its planned excursions, therapies and counselling services.

While shoppers can return to the stores today, there will be a number of restrictions in place.

The number of customers allowed in the shop at any one time will be restricted, hand sanitiser stations will be at the front of all stores and changing rooms have been closed.

Social distancing will also be in place.