Pioneering Bristol cancer charity Penny Brohn has unveiled an ambitious plan to set up a chain of centres in and around the city that combine charity shopping with treatment.
The charity, which has been supporting those in the Bristol area living with cancer for almost 40 years, already provides a combination of physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual support designed to help anyone affected by cancer, and at any stage of the disease. Thousands of people every year receive help at its main centre at Ham Green, pictured below. 
Now it is on the lookout for premises in Bristol to be the first of a string of combined retail and treatment centres.
The plan is to have a small chain of well-fitted, professionally-run charity shops raising funds on the ground floor t with treatment rooms on the upper parts across Bristol and Bath.
It has called in Bristol-based property experts Williams Gunter Hardwick to find a building with up to 1,000 sq ft of retail space on the ground floor with a further 1,000 sq ft to be used as treatment rooms.
Williams Gunter Hardwick associate director Steve Cullis said: “Ideally this would be in the vicinity of the Bristol Royal Infirmary, which is close to the Oncology Centre and has good public transport links. 
“But equally we would look at suburban locations such as Clifton Village, Cotham Hill, Gloucester Road, Henleaze, Westbury on Trym and Whiteladies Road.
“Accessibility, transport links and nearby parking with be important factors and we also have an upper limit to the rent of £30,000 a year.
“If we can prove that this novel template can work, we will then extend our search for premises that could host further centres locally.”
