A popular community shop has received an internal facelift .

The Bridges Community Shop reopened last week following a refit only possible due to a generous anonymous donation and some of this money has been used for the shop.

The shop floor area has being repainted and rebranded with the Bridges’ colours and now have a lighter and brighter appearance making it more attractive to customers. They are purchasing new display equipment so that customers can easily find what they are looking for. They hope to appeal to all members of the community from bargain rails to high end branded items.

The outside to be done later in spring when weather improves.

Storage of donated items is always difficult in their small space so they will be purchasing more storage equipment to allow for better sorting facilities for our volunteers.

A spokesman for the charity said that they have a fantastic group of volunteers “who work tirelessly for the shop and the charity, sorting, steaming and displaying donated stock. We are currently looking to recruit new volunteers to help us and roles include till work, sorting, steaming, pricing etc. All ages and abilities welcome – it’s a great way of meeting new people and learning new skills.

Get in touch with Marianne Piper if interested – [email protected] . The shop could not exist and function without the volunteers.

“The Bridges shop is unique in the town as it generates income to support the Bridges charity. Our USP is that money from the shop goes directly to the charity. We hope that the refit will make the shop more appealing to customers and they think of us first when visiting the town.

“We are well placed for parking, coffee shops and bus station so ease of shopping. The other uniqueness about our shop is that we operate a social enterprise for people with different levels of educational needs. We currently have nine volunteers from our wellbeing projects who volunteer in the shop to help with all aspects of the operation. Every person is a valued member of the team and have developed their skills through their experiences in the shop.

“One member has recently been awarded a prize from the High Sheriff for her development achievements. We also support younger people who are doing their DofE awards and youngster help us on the weekend with various tasks within the shop. Its great to have young and old in the team.

“We would like to encourage quality donations to help us continue our valuable work. Items we need are branded ladies and gents clothing, leather goods such as handbags and shoes, quality china and glassware, accessories such as watches, necklaces, scarfs etc.

“Our shop is a success story for Bridges as it provides valuable income to support the whole charity. However, times are difficult with rising costs etc so all donations and all purchases are massively important to us – so please support your local shop.

“We look forward to welcoming you all soon!”