2 minute read
Community Shop: Knottingley
by 55 North
Knottingley is social enterprise’s eighth outlet
Discounted food, free training courses, and hot meals for kids are all on offer.
Community Shop, a social enterprise with stores across England, has opened its eighth outlet in Knottingley, West Yorkshire.
The store sells surplus food and household products from major retailers at discounted prices. Community Shop aims to support those on the cusp of food poverty by offering free training courses, ranging from cookery clubs to interview skills and business programmes. On-site community kitchens serve at-cost hot meals to members, and children eat free.
The store will serve around 750 members and create eight new jobs. Membership is open to any local resident who receives income support and is motivated to make a positive change to their lives.
Natalie Brown, Head of Community Shop, said: “We are so pleased to be opening Community Shop Knottingley, and particularly to be expanding our offer in Yorkshire, where Community Shop began. The support we provide is focused around empowering and building stronger individuals and more confident communities, and over the past year this has been more essential than ever.”
The store is opening thanks to the support of long-standing partner, The Coalfields Regeneration Trust, the only organisation in the UK dedicated to supporting former mining towns and villages. The Trust owns the property and is providing it on a rent-free basis to support the work of Community Shop. Meanwhile, significant funds have also been donated by Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Ocado, Bakkavor, Wakefield Council, and WDH.
Vanessa Smith, Operations Director at Coca-Cola Europacific Partners, Wakefield, said: “We have a long-standing partnership with Company Shop Group, having supported with funding and product donations over the years. These stores have a significant impact on people’s lives up and down the country, and we look forward to seeing how the space in Knottingley delivers a positive impact to the people in Wakefield in the run up to Christmas and beyond.”
