New community pop-up shop opening in Wolverhampton just in time to help families save money over the summer holidays

Caring Hearts in Ashmore Park has a large shop full of pre-loved clothes, books, toys and other small household items and on Saturday August 2 it is opening a community shop.

Neil Rutter, manager of Caring Hearts, is planning to run a permanent community shop at the Griffiths Drive site, but until that is built he has created a pop-up in a mobile office unit.  

He said: "We really want to help our local community access great food at great prices and working with the council we’ve been able to open this pop-up shop just in time to help families over the long-school summer holidays.

"It can be hard at the best of times keeping up with hungry children’s appetites, but it’s especially hard over the long holidays when everything has gone up so much over the last few years.

"So while we wait to develop our large, permanent community shop on site we thought let’s open something now to help in any way we can.

"We have a large group of regular customers who come to the main shop for clothes, shows, toys and a host of other items, so they can now get their groceries at the same time."

To shop at the new venture, which enables people to save a lot of money each week on groceries rather than using major supermarkets, residents are asked to pick up a membership form and pay an initial £5 joining fee.

Councillor Stephen Simkins, leader of Wolverhampton Council, said of the venture: "I’m really proud of the community shop network we’ve been able to create in the city with our partners. Hard-working people like Neil and dedicated volunteers throughout our communities make these shops possible and I applaud them for it.

"This is great timing and I congratulate Caring Hearts for creating this pop-up now while they wait for the permanent shop. It shows how in tune they are with the people they serve and the understanding they have of how tough the summer holidays can be for some families.

"The council is committed to the future of community shops, as they really do offer a way for people to do the best for their families in these difficult times. They also help our local economy, which helps everyone in the city in the long-term.

"This is just one of the many ways as a council we’re trying to help our citizens deal with the on-going challenges of the high cost of living. Food remains the number one item regarding cost of living, with which residents need our help."

It’s the latest community shop to join the city-wide network, which also includes the flagship Central Shop and Pomegranate Café at the Queen’s Building in Victoria Square in Wolverhampton city centre.

The council helped create the shops with an initial investment from the government’s Household Support Fund and provides on-going support, but they are run day to day by staff and volunteers at community centres and hubs like Caring Hearts.

For more information and to sign up, people can drop in and see Neil and his team on Griffiths Drive, next to St Albans church.

For more cost of living support available from the council visit www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/costoflivingsupport.