We're a vital food poverty charity and we need South Tyneside's help as demand rises

Founded in 2002, Hospitality and Hope services include a charity shop, and a supported living accommodation service, as well as wellbeing and debt advice sessions - and says it is now helping more people than ever before.

Wayne Madden, operations manager at Hospitality and Hope, says: “We’ve seen an increase in usage and membership for the community shops.

“Due to the funding available we can only allow 150 households per week to use each community shop and have been consistently nearing that over the last couple of months. There are often waiting lists.”

Hospitality and Hope’s community shops provide healthy food at discounted prices in a bid to break the cycle of reliance on foodbanks.

Last year the Trussel charity’s community of food banks, which includes Hospitality and Hope’s food bank, distributed 2.9 million emergency food parcels over 12 months – equivalent to one parcel every 11 seconds.

Anyone living within 1.5 miles of a Hospitality and Hope community shop can access its food services by receiving a membership, which allows one shop per week to buy discounted goods.

Members can pick their own produce, including basics such as cereal, milk, bread, pasta, rice, fresh fruit and vegetables and toiletries, with 10 items costing only £4.

The shops also offer a space for support and wellbeing with the charity hosting activities, education and support sessions for members of the community.

Wayne says many of the people using the community shops are struggling with the cost of living and the shops offer them a ‘lifeline’.

He says: “For many it’s a lifeline. Two families who attended one of the shop’s wellbeing events recently became friends having never met before despite only living around the corner from each other. For them that’s been life changing. It’s about forming a community.

“We’ve met people who have come to us in crisis, received an emergency parcel from our food bank and then gone on to become a community shop member and attended wellbeing events. Some even become volunteers and then paid members of staff.”

How you can help

Hospitality and Hope is now needing to raise more money than ever to keep the shelves of its shops stocked and its wellbeing sessions running.

In a bid to help boost funding and cover mounting costs, the charity is appealing for more supporters to raise donations through the easyfundraising website and app where Hospitality and Hope is a registered cause.

Once supporters have signed up to easyfundraising and chosen Hospitality and Hope as their cause the retailers they shop with via the easyfundraising website – from John Lewis to Just Eat- will automatically donate a percentage of their purchase to Hospitality and Hope without adding any extra expense to their bill.

Wayne says: “With easyfundraising we like that those who choose to support us can do so without going to further personal expense, it's included within the price of their purchases.

“It's an easy system to use and promote and refer people too within the work we do and it's quite universal, there's likely nobody who wouldn't be able to support us.”

To date Hospitality and Hope has raised close to £200 through easyfundraising. Support them with every online shop here.