A new pop-up community shop opens this weekend in Wolverhampton, just in time to help families over the summer holidays.

Caring Hearts in Ashmore Park already has a large shop full of pre-loved clothes, books, toys and other small household items and this Saturday it will add a community shop.

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

‘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,’ said Neil.

The community shop will open this Saturday, August 2. All residents need to do is pick up a membership form, which is very easy to fill in and pay an initial £5 fee to join, before getting on with their first shop.

Councillor Stephen Simkins, Leader of the City of Wolverhampton Council, said it was great to see yet another shop opening in the city.

‘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 the city centre.

Shoppers can save a lot of money every week on groceries by using the community shops instead of major supermarkets.

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, drop in and see Neil and his team on Griffiths Drive, next to St Albans church.

For more details on all cost of living support available from the council check out our web pages www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/costoflivingsupport.

Pocket to Plate is another key project the council developed to help residents provide nutritious and tasty food for themselves and their families on a budget.

Community chefs Prince and Simon join forces with self-taught cook and tiktok star Mitch Lane every Thursday to release new recipes and how to cook them as part of Pocket to Plate.

Follow @pocketoplate now on Instagram, tiktok and youtube to see great ideas for feeding the family.