Myton Hospice, which provides a range of services for terminally ill patients and their loved ones, has upgraded its in-store electronic point of sale (EPoS) and gift aid systems with a solution from Nisyst, specialist charity solutions provider.

In a bid to utilise new revenue streams, the hospice transitioned from its previous system in its 21 stores, warehouse and head office to Nisyst’s CHARiot solution, which captures 100% of Gift Aid and doesn’t charge commission.

Cath D’Eath, retail support manager at Myton Hospice said: “We need to raise more than £8million each year to run our three hospices in Coventry, Rugby and Warwick as well as help people at the comfort of their own homes. Our retail stores play a pivotal role in generating those funds so it’s important that we continuously make sure that we’re making most of every opportunity.

“Thanks to CHARiot’s Gift Aid on Rags feature, we can now generate extra income as we’ve not been able to process Gift Aid on items marked as rag previously. Its management and sales reports informs our retail teams of what products are doing particularly well and helps them make sales decisions. We’re happy to have made this move and look forward to reaping the benefits.”

CHARiot is the only HMRC recognised solution for claiming Gift Aid on rag items. All staff and volunteers can operate the software by using a hand held scanner in the stock room to scan the barcodes specifically for rag bags that are being collected on that day.

Bob Chunilal, managing director at Nisyst said: “It is estimated that around 10% of the charity sector’s income comes from rags, but not many charities know that it’s possible to maximise this income through claiming Gift Aid. Any rag donations that have been Gift Aided by the donor are eligible for the full 25% of the sale price, thus presenting a significant additional income stream. We’re excited to have introduced this feature to Myton Hospice and will continue developing CHARiot to respond to other needs of the charity retail sector.”