(March 2010)  CLAN is enjoying having its two Aberdeen charity shops spruced up thanks to an initiative set up by the John Lewis Partnership.

CLAN was selected to benefit from the John Lewis Golden Jubilee Trust, which sees a member of staff spend a period of time sharing their expertise with a local cause.

Members of staff can apply for a full or part time volunteering secondment with a registered charity for up to six months. The scheme gives individuals the opportunity to help in a practical way by allowing them to work for the charity while having their wages covered by the Trust.

CLAN was the chosen charity of Tania Qadir, who works in the soft furnishing department of John Lewis’ Aberdeen store and is hoping to rejuvenate the charity’s shops over a six month period.

Tania is taking on the role of merchandise coordinator and has already started work on the window displays of the shops on Chapel Street and Rosemount Viaduct and is appealing to local businesses for their help.

During her secondment Tania is aiming to encourage businesses to take a proactive approach to donating goods to the shops and is hoping to make the process as easy as possible.

She said: “I wanted to work with CLAN as I hoped my expertise in merchandising could really help the charity. Something I wanted to concentrate on was making the most of the fantastic support CLAN already receives from the North-east business community.

“The idea behind the initiative is that instead of having to take donations directly to a shop people can take them to their workplace where they will then be collected by CLAN.

“I really hope that work colleagues will get together to support CLAN and maybe even have a bit of fun along way.

“Hopefully by the end of my secondment, we will have managed to gather together some great pieces for the shops, and will have helped to raise vital funds for CLAN in the process.”

Susan Crighton, fundraising manager at CLAN, said: “Everyone at CLAN is thrilled to have Tania on board and we are already noticing a difference in our shops from the work she has done.

“We’re delighted that Tania chose CLAN to benefit from the John Lewis Jubilee Trust and her expertise is already proving valuable.

“As a result of Tania’s help and ideas several companies have already collected together their unwanted clothes and bric a brac, which we have collected so Tania’s ideas are already paying off – she is our very own Mary Queen of Shops!”

If your company would like to take part please contact Susan on 01224 647000.