Southsea charity shop close to the Hartt closes its doors

Volunteers from the youth service Community Fusion came together yesterday to bid farewell to Made With Hartt, which spent over a year in Elm Grove, Southsea.

Jenna Boyson, CEO and founder of Community Fusion, says that she felt ‘massively mixed emotions’ over the closure of the shop.

She said: ‘I’ve been really excited about moving on and starting something new, but I’ve been really sad and gutted. I’ve put a lot of hard work into this project and worked with many good people.’

Customers and former volunteers popped in for cakes and a toast on the final day, which marked record sales for the project.

As well as stocking some of your typical charity shop bric-a-brac, Made With Hartt, which first set up shop in Cascades Shopping Centre in 2013, gave local artists and designers a chance to sell their wares on the high street.

Textile designer Ruby Sink, 23, is one of those volunteers.

She said: ‘I think I’ve learnt loads of transferable skills and met a load of contacts.

‘I wanted to establish myself in Portsmouth, and I feel like this has really progressed that.’

Community Fusion, which was founded in 2011, works on empowering local youths, and won a Portsmouth Venus Award for Best Green Business in 2014.

Jenna says that the group has ‘big challenges’ in store, and that Made With Hartt has been retired to divert their attention to other ventures.

She said: ‘We felt that it was time to pull this one away so we could focus on other things, and look to the future of the whole charity. It’s going to be an interesting few months ahead.’