Church shop is heaven sent for local families

A Crewe church unveiled a cracking scheme to help families cut the cost of living – a shop open just in time for Easter!

Hope Church has opened Community Grocery – a shop in the former TA building on Myrtle Street offering quality food at reduced prices.

The store is run in partnership with The Message Trust and is the latest in a network of more than 30 stores across the UK, which have already supported over 80,000 families since 2020.

Membership costs just £1 per year, with members able to visit multiple times a week. It is open from Monday to Friday 10am-2pm.

Signing up is easy and gives members, who would otherwise find it hard to put food on the table, somewhere where they can do a shop from just £5 per visit – saving on average £20 each shop.

Pastors of Hope Church Phil and Emma Powell said: “With prices going up, many are left wondering how they’re going to afford food for themselves and their family. Knowing how tough this has made things for people, and desperate to give families access to the affordable food they need, we opened our new Community Grocery providing affordable food for members as well as access to support courses too.

“Step inside and you’ll find the same range of products you’d expect to see in your local supermarkets, including fresh fruit and vegetables, tinned goods, bakery items, frozen food, sanitary products and household items.

“The impact Community Groceries have on lives is huge, with members who use other stores saying: “As soon as I found the Community Grocery, it was like a weight lifted off my shoulders” and “Joining the Community Grocery has been a complete life changer. Our fruit bowl is always full, and my kids eat a lot of fruit now – as much as they want – and we no longer have to cut back in the fresh things because of the cost.”

Hope Church has worked in this local area for the past 16 years.

For many years various school buildings were rented to house Sunday services. Hope Church central on Derrington Avenue was purchased in 2013 and has been used for church activities and community outreach projects.

Recently a 10 year lease was signed on the Old Territorial army building which was in a derelict state and took 10 months to revamp.

It’s now also home to a community café.

They added: “Our vision is to use this as a multifaceted community hub with a social supermarket, a toddler group, community coffee shop, charity shop and Church on a Sunday morning. Our heart was to have all the groups under one roof to be a welcoming, accessible and sustainable community space that builds community and links with other services in town.

“We have renamed it the Myrtle building as it’s located there, but also for the biblical significance of the name, which means to bring restoration and transformation and hope!”

After Easter there are plans to start a toddler group.