Former The Bill star Lisa Maxwell opens new Northampton Barnardo's

Lisa Maxwell, who is best known for her role as Samantha Nixon in The Bill, officially opened the store on Saturday. Pictures taken by Kirsty Edmonds.

At noon on Saturday Lisa Maxwell officially cut the ribbon to open the latest Barnardo's store, located in Abington Street, in the former Blue Inc premesis. The shop will sell 'high quality' pre-loved women and men’s wear, accessories, shoes and handbags as well as children’s wear, toys, books, linens, bric-a-brac and household items.Barnardo’s shops provide crucial funding to run services for the UK's most vulnerable children, young people and families, and will happily accept all donations listed above to sell.Lisa Maxwell said: “The shop is a real treasure trove of affordable preloved clothes, shoes and other amazing items and it was a real pleasure to cut the ribbon and have a look round today. “As well as being able to get your hands on some bargains, it’s great to know that you are raising money for a really good cause at the same time.” Barnardo’s area business manager, Samantha Dean, said: “We are delighted to have welcomed Lisa to officially open our new shop and we are thrilled with the response from the community so far. “People were queueing up outside the door before we had even opened.“We know this store will give a boost to our fundraising, which will go towards helping the hundreds of thousands of children and young people supported by Barnardo’s across the UK.” Lisa is currently touring the country in Gary Barlow and Tim Firth’s musical The Calendar Girls, which was at the Royal & Derngate Theatre in Northampton from 8 – 12 Oct 2019.