Hospice which suffered heartless burglary cashes in on Llandudno goat t-shirts

A hospice whose existence was threatened by a heartless break-in has managed to cash in on a viral story about Llandudno’s goats.

St David’s Hospice in Llandudno had a satellite collection centre broken into, and thousands of pounds worth of stock and equipment stolen, two weeks ago.

Coupled with the winding up of it’s commercial activities due to the coronavirus lock down the charity faced and uncertain future.

However a brain wave by its commercial department, allied with Llandudno’s new-found fame as the goat capital of the western hemisphere, has given it an unlikely lifeline.

It pastiched a famous album sleeve, which saw the Beatles crossing Abbey Road in London, by adopting a cartoon image of the Great Orme Goats (since been branded The Goatles) walking across Abbey Road…in Llandudno.

As luck would have it, that’s where the hospice is based in the seaside town.

Within 10 days they have sold more than 750 of the cheeky “goat tees” said a spokeswoman for the charity, raising more than £15,000.

The charity’s head of fundraising, marketing and communications, Margaret Hollings, said: “Following the worldwide news about the Great Orme Goats taking over the town of Llandudno, we came up with the concept of a bespoke t-shirt as it seemed like a fitting tribute to our lovely goat friends which are regular visitors to the Hospice.

“By purchasing a t-shirt, it is also a great way for people to support us to ensure that we can keep our wonderful clinical colleagues on the front line during Covid-19.

“The goats have always been a bit cheeky wandering about the town at this time of year but when we heard that

Llandudno had been branded a ‘goat town’ in the news, we wanted to grasp some positivity from the situation.”
It has helped ease some of the financial burden after the devastating break-in.

Staff found the devastation at St David’s Hospice donation centre on Bron y Nant Road in Mochdre exactly two weeks ago on April 3.

The heartless thugs stole designer clothes, electrical goods and jewellery, which would have been sold to raise funds for the charity, plus electrical equipment used by the charity.

Chief executive Trystan Pritchard said at the time: “We are fighting for our survival as we have lost most of our income because of the current coronavirus crisis.

“This will make it even harder for us to find enough funds to care for local people at the end of their life.”
North Wales Police is investigating the break-in.

To order a t-shirt “goat” to: https://stdavidshospice.org.uk/shop/

By Jez Hemming – Local Democracy Reporter