Poison pen letter to charity helps boost trade – after going viral on Facebook

A “stray” poison pen letter calling for a charity shop to “close down” has helped boost the store’s trade – after it was posted on social media. The nasty note written to Kreate, a homewares store that provides work experience for adults with learning disabilities, said it was “not welcome” and would likely “fail”.

But when manager Ruth Denton shared the handwritten message on Facebook, hundreds of well-wishers expressed their support for the store in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. And she now says they’ve had people from as far away as America making plans to visit – while adding the letter has helped put the shop “on the map”.

“The response we’ve had has been incredible,” Ruth, 37, said. “It was really reassuring because you know what you’re doing is right and people don’t think that about you.

“It just helped support the charity no end. It really put us on the map, so that’s great… Whether we like them or not, they’ve done us a huge favor.”

Ruth said the letter arrived at the shop in the post on Saturday morning (May 4) and she decided to open it because of the “intriguing” writing. But when she read the poorly worded note – written in pencil on a single sheet of lined A4 paper – she was stunned by the lines of mean-spirited comments.

The letter read: “To the Landlord, just a note from the neighborhood watch not to welcome you. On the contrary, we try not to encourage local charity shops or shops selling Blackpool-style trinkets.

“Lots of businesses needed by communities (sic) have failed and I hope yours have too. Another trendy Tak painted in grey. Coming soon, countdown (sic) for you. The shutters will be permanently down. Resident Unite (Bocking Lane).”

Ruth was initially saddened by the letter, but soon realized that the writer was unaware of the work Kreate does to help people. She said: “It was really upsetting. We are here for a purpose.

“The idea of ​​the store is that students gain retail experience working here, and everything we make in the store goes back into our charity. Obviously the person who wrote it has never been to the shop and read about the charity or knows anything about us really.”

“So it was a little bit like, ‘Don’t they understand what we’re doing?’ Obviously they don’t. But it’s not very nice when you see something like that.”

She then decided to take a picture of the bizarre letter and share it with others on social media – prompting a flood of comments from supporters. One wrote: “I’m so pleased they wrote this letter as I didn’t know you were there and now I’m looking forward to visiting and supporting your amazing charity.”

Another added: “Well I’m just a few minutes down the road and I didn’t know you were there. I’ll come next week.”

A third said: “I will come next week to put some money in your house. Amazing cause and my lovely cousin works there. I really hope this negative will do you so much good.”

Ruth said she was overwhelmed by the response and amazed at how many people supported the charity following the nasty comments.

“Last night I had someone comment on one of the posts who was from America,” she said. “Someone said they were coming and would like to come visit. It would be amazing if they did.

“We don’t actually have an online store, but we’ve now done orders in Scotland and the south. So the response has been amazing.”

Ruth said she still doesn’t know who wrote the original letter and felt it was best they remained anonymous. She added: “We have no idea who they are and it’s best to keep it that way I think.”