Kelly Foran<\/span>and<\/span><\/p>\n Jonny Humphries,<\/span>North West<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n A charity boss who founded a community shop selling groceries at a fraction of the price of supermarkets said the concept was so successful “it had gone a bit nuts”. <\/p>\n Andy Hawthorne is chief executive of The Message Trust, a Christian charity which also aims to provide access to affordable groceries to combat food insecurity. <\/p>\n The trust runs a community members-only store in Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, which sells food donated by supermarkets, or that would otherwise go to landfill, at heavily discounted rate. <\/p>\n Hawthorne told the BBC: “People often walk in this place in despair, we see it in their eyes and their demeanour and they sniff hope.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n He said the idea was formed during the coronavirus pandemic when the trust was delivering food to vulnerable people. <\/p>\n “We saw desperate need,” Hawthorne said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n “So we came up with this dream: let’s start a shop, let’s stop food going into landfill, let’s get lots of donations and let’s buy some choice items.<\/p>\n “We’ll make sure it’s well stocked and let’s try and provide food for families at a fraction of the cost for a supermarket.<\/p>\n “And it’s gone a bit nuts to be honest.”<\/p>\n The result was the trust’s flagship shop in Sharston. <\/p>\n Shopper Beatrice Zulu told the BBC it had been “absolutely amazing” at helping keep her bills down. <\/p>\n “Especially with the days like now after Christmas, where you’re probably thinking everything’s gone but if you come in here and it’s a fiver you can get your veg, you get your fruit, you can get your meat, you can get your bread, It’s really, really good and really, really useful,” she said. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Hawthorne said since then demand has rocketed and the charity now runs 34 similar shops across the country, with around 100,000 members. <\/p>\n A food shop costs around 25% less than in regular supermarkets, and the charity also provides “wraparound support” with courses on debt or managing mental health. <\/p>\n The food on the shelves is a combination of “perfectly good” stock which is closer to its sell by date, food donated to the charity and stock the charity has bought out of its own funds. <\/p>\n Sharston shop member Kathleen Roper added: “What you’d spend say \u00a320 in the shops, you can get here for \u00a35. <\/p>\n “So it’s a massive, massive difference and it’s always full. The fresh veg especially in the shops is so dear and you can’t afford to live.<\/p>\n “I really can’t afford to live if I shop outside.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Kelly](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/5788\/live\/42df03a0-f6c4-11f0-9af0-6331be72883e.jpg.webp\")
Kelly Foran\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![](\"https:\/\/static.files.bbci.co.uk\/bbcdotcom\/web\/20260113-125315-2e65791d43-web-2.37.1-4\/grey-placeholder.png\")
![\"Kelly](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/2e6d\/live\/99551bc0-f6c4-11f0-9af0-6331be72883e.jpg.webp\")
Kelly Foran\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n![\"Kelly](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/1b9b\/live\/09afc5f0-f6c5-11f0-9af0-6331be72883e.jpg.webp\")
Kelly Foran\/BBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n