LOVELY by name as well as by nature, Bunny Pumpkin Boutique and The Emporium Of Loveliness is the latest shop to open up in the tented market.

On Saturday, April18, crowds flocked to the new store for the opening ceremony with Miss Wiltshire, Nicole Cox, and the mayor of Swindon, Teresa Page, cutting the ribbon to open the new store.

While the Bunny Pumpkin Boutique sports a range of bespoke, hand-crafted footwear, the Emporium Of Loveliness is the brainchild of Jo Heaven, the founder of local charity Empower, which supports projects in the Gambia.

Not only is the emporium an outlet for goods created by the Sara Kunda Women’s Centre in the Gambia but a minimum of 20 per cent of the cost of every item sold from the Emporium will go directly to support Empower projects.

“It’s been going fabulously well,” said Jo. “People have been coming in and saying how lovely it all is and how there is nothing else like it in Swindon, which there isn’t.

“Everyone has been so supportive, all the people in the tented market have been so welcoming and supportive too, it’s been a really wonderful day.”

The grand opening on Saturday sparked a wealth of interest, with plenty of customers wandering in, in the summer sunshine, to enjoy a glass of bucks fizz and a slice of cake.

It marks the latest stage in a long journey which has seen Empower’s fashion sales develop from out of the back of the car to its first fully fledged, permanent charity shop.

“When we first started raising money for Empower we were going to car boot sales and selling items,” said Jo.

“Then we started holding fashion nights and pop-up shops every so often, which grew and grew in popularity.

“We then started hosting weekend events at The Core and at Harris+ Hoole, and it eventually dawned on us that we needed something bigger and more permanent, which is when we thought we’d open up our own shop.

“As with the pop up shop fashion events at the Core, Spot and STFC we rely on donations “What is not suitable for the shop will be sent to Sara Kunda Women’s Centre for the ladies to run their own income-generating shop so nothing will be wasted.”

The new shop is open from 9.30am to 5.30pm, Monday to Saturday.

To find out more about the Emporium Of Loveliness and projects its supports, visit facebook.com/EmporiumLoveliness. For more about Empower visit facebook.com/EmpowertheGambia