South Tyneside charity relaunches community shop at Chichester

South Tyneside charity Hospitality and Hope hosted the relaunch of its Your Community Shop, at Chichester in association with The Andrews Group (TAG).

Shelley (Michelle) Andrews, co-founder of The Andrews Group, has previously worked in community stores in South Shields, and became something of a local celebrity known for helping others.

Once the previous store she worked in closed, Shelley decided to set up her own shop to continue providing to South Shields. She approached several charities in the region, including Hospitality & Hope. 

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Fast forward a number of months and after a successful trial period, The Andrews Group (TAG) and Hospitality & Hope embark on an exciting new chapter as a joint venture.

In attendance of the shop relaunch and ribbon cutting were the Mayor of South Tyneside Council Cllr John McCabe, Cllr Paul Dean, Cllr Anne Walsh and Biddick Hall Infants School Headteacher Andrea Willis alongside Shop Manager Shelley Andrews, representatives of The Andrews Group (TAG) (Shel's family) and Hospitality and Hope CEO, Peter Maloney.

Also present were Operations Director of Hospitality and Hope, Carol Gorman and staff member Joe Purdy. Peter said: "We are absolutely delighted to formally relaunch the Your Community Shop in Chichester and formally welcome Michelle and The Andrew's Group into the Hospitality & Hope family.

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"It was clear from the outset Michelle's passion and enthusiasm for wanting to help others aligned directly with the vision of Hospitality and Hope which is For the Community of South Tyneside to live with an increased sense of hope for a positive and self-reliant future."

"By having this partnership between our two great organisations, we can better support those families who are struggling within the community with not only the provision of food from our network of Community Shops, but also the provision of new and nearly new free school uniforms and baby/toddlers clothes, books and toys at significantly reduced prices."

Shelly added: "We don't just  have the shop. We also help families with baby items and household items when they have been referred to us by social workers and people alike and we also help people who are homeless with warm clothing , shoes and blankets, and that is down to generous donations that we can do this.

"So I would like to thank everyone for their support."

The store can be found opposite Chichester Metro and is open Monday - Friday, 11.30am - 2.30pm.