THEY are sited in four of the most affluent areas of Hampshire and Surrey, yet the Bordon, Liphook, Haslemere and Grayshott charity shops are getting increasing requests for financial help from people in need.

These requests are not just for money - but for furniture, for assistance with housing and for vouchers to buy food.

What is now the Bordon Liphook Haslemere Charity, began when Carl Tantum set it up 20 years ago, by opening the first shop in Bordon’s Forest Centre, while working with the Elizabeth Dibben Centre (which was a mental-health clinic in the town before it closed).

His idea was to sell donations - such as clothes, books, ornaments and kitchenware - from local people and redistribute the profits to those in desperate financial need in the same community.

The Bordon shop is still the one, out of the four, that makes the most money for the charity.

And over the years, the revenue from the shops has meant that about £800,000 had been distributed in the form of small grants to deserving people in the area.

As an example, £5,000 was given to 283 adults and 351 children to help them through last Christmas. This help was in the form of vouchers, and the charity ensures vouchers are for food and not spent on cigarettes, alcohol, lottery tickets or scratchcards.

Carl, who retired in 2012, was awarded an MBE for charitable services in Hampshire, and the man who has taken on his mantle, as chairman and director of the four shops, is Michael Gallagher (pictured).

Michael was quick to stress, when we met over coffee, that the growing success of the charity was down to the volunteers who run the shops. “And we are desperately in need of more to come and help us,” he said.

Although he now lives in Hertfordshire, Michael knows the East Hampshire area well as he and his late wife Cynthia, or Cindy, lived in Headley for more than 40 years. Before he retired he was an architect based in Guildford.

He is a former chairman of the parish council and chairman of the governors of Churcher’s College, in Petersfield, which this year, he said, had “had outstanding A-level results and we have sent 10 pupils to Oxbridge”.

A widower, sadly Michael’s wife died nine years ago, it was another family tragedy that made him decide to move to Hertfordshire to be near his daughter, Helen and grandchildren.

His son Duncan died suddenly, at the age of 40, two years ago. Michael’s, way of coping with grief is to keep busy and running the charity, along with his commitment to the school, leaves him little leisure time.

He is in constant touch with the shops - the newest one in Grayshott opened three years ago - and the volunteers.

He also oversees the finances and trustees’ meetings, at which when they review requests for donations and work with the local Citizens Advice Bureaux which refer people needing financial help.

“It can be right across the board when it comes to people who need our help,” said Michael, listing the different situations those peopled helped may find themselves in. “Those on low incomes, who are struggling to make ends meet; or who have fallen behind with their rent because of illness; a widow, who, without a husband to help her, has spiralled into debt because she could not manage her finances; a young mum expecting her first baby and needs a pram or a cot, or a teenager living alone for the first time but with no money to buy furniture.

“One request we had recently was made by a young teenager who had been thrown out of his home. He managed to find somewhere to live but contacted us because he had no furniture or cooking utensils.

“We work closely with Furniture Line, in fact our office is based in part of its building in Bordon (Hampshire House in Hampshire Road), and we found the teenager some of the things he wanted, including a bed, and not just the bed but the mattress and bedding too.”

The charity also offers a similar starter pack for single people or couples setting up their first home. Also, in conjunction with East Hampshire District Council, it runs a rent-advantage scheme to help people to get their first foot on the property ladder.

“We find people fridges and stoves, for example,” he said. “We give vouchers for food and have supplied at least 30 carpets just recently.

“We carefully study all the requests for donations we receive and look at the most needy. We give a grant of up to £1,000, depending on what the person needs, but we do not give it unless we see the person has tried to pull him or herself out of debt.”

There is, he stressed, a lot of poverty in areas of affluent middle-class living and losing a home or falling into debt can happen quickly, especially if the breadwinner is made redundant or develops a serious illness.

“Although there is the benefits system, it can take a time to start paying out,” he said. “It means a family can very quickly run into the kind of debt which means they must consider whether to turn off the electricity and go without heat or buy food.

“Many have to use a food bank to supplement their weekly shopping bills.”

He praised Sue Nicholson, the charity’s secretary and administrator, the team members who run the charity, and the shops’ volunteers “who have to deal with the goods that arrive, sorting and arranging them before they can go on sale”. “However, one of our problems is that some people leave goods for us when the shops are closed and, if it rains, they get soaked and we have to dry them out if we can and throw away the books,” he added.

What the charity needed, he said, was someone to offer it a warehouse at a cheap rent, which it could use as a collecting point and to store items until they were needed.

Michael admits, like the high-street shops, takings at the charity’s four shops were slightly down.

He said: “We do need the footfall and we want the public to pop in, meet our friendly volunteers and see the range of goods we have.”

The charity is also grateful for donations and Gift Aid.

It is clear that Michael cares deeply about the charity, which has come to the rescue of hundreds of people since it was founded. And he and his team will continue their work to ensure the four shops remain an important presence in the towns of Bordon, Liphook, Grayshott and Haslemere, so they can go on helping those in difficulty.