NORTHERN Ireland Secretary of State Peter Mandelson MP was in the region yesterday to open a charity shop.
Mr Mandelson opened the Butterwick Children's Hospice Charity Shop, in York Road, Hartlepool.
Faye Stephenson, ten, a patient, presented Mr Mandelson with a card depicting Spike, the hospice mascot, made by children at the hospice.
Graham Leggatt-Chidgey, chief executive designate at the hospice, said: "We are delighted Mr Mandelson has made time in his busy schedule to open our shop. The hospice makes no charge for the care provided to our patients and their families.
"We are therefore dependent on support from the community, and the profits generated by our shops, to finance our £10,000 a week running costs."
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