Sheffield epilepsy charity Fable announces closures of its shops two months after tragedy

A well loved Sheffield charity has announced it is closing its shops, two months after the death of its operations manager.
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The charity Fable – For a Better Life With Epilepsy – has confirmed the closure of its retail side with the shops shutting from yesterday (Saturday)

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Fable shops closures: Sheffield charity explains decision and thanks customers f...

Fable has been operating in Sheffield since the 1990s, and the charity will continue to run, but without its retail arm.

The  Sheffield charity Fable has announced it is closing its charity shops, like this one is CrookesThe  Sheffield charity Fable has announced it is closing its charity shops, like this one is Crookes
The Sheffield charity Fable has announced it is closing its charity shops, like this one is Crookes
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Fable confirmed to the Star that its shops were shutting, but said: “We are not closing as a charity, just the retail side.”

The charity’s shops are based in Crookes, and on Herries Road, near Longley.

The shops closed at the end of business on Saturday, and had signs for half price sales to try to clear some stock.

Fable had been hit by tragedy in recent years. Its founder and boss Sandra Howard died in 2017, having suffered from cancer.

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And then in November 2021, its operations manager, Sarah Osborne Green died suddenly, aged just 46.

Sandra spent the last months of her life urging people to donate to the epilepsy charity she founded, to ensure money continued to be collected as she battled the disease.

Sheffield-born Sandra, who was 63, had helped to raise £3.8million since 1995 for those living with epilepsy through the charity.

She set the charity up after one of her sons, Gareth, was diagnosed with the condition which deteriorated over time so by the age of 15 he was having between 15 and 20 seizures most days.

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She was the first recipient of the Pride of Britain “fundraiser of the year” award in 1995.

In 2005, she was one of 100 people in the South Yorkshire area to be awarded a commemorative medal in acknowledgement of outstanding achievement by the University of Sheffield, followed in 2006 by the Order of the League of Mercy. And the awards kept coming.

In 2007 Sandra was nominated for The Sheffield Lord Mayor’s “Women of Inspiration” Awards in the health category and the following year Sheffield’s Night of Honour presented her with a ‘Lifetime achievement’ award.

Close friend Sarah, had also worked for Fable for over 20 years and built on Sandra’s legacy.