Chester’s ShareShop have announced their relocation.
The charity closed their current shop on Northgate St today and revealed they are moving to a new location on Pepper street becoming Chesters largest charity and coffee shop.
Founder/Trustee Adam Dandy commented: “We’re delighted to announce that we have provisionally agreed terms to rent the old Dawson’s Music Showroom, which is a huge space, at a discounted rate with the kind support of the Grosvenor Estate, to whom we are extremely grateful, this will allow us to use even more penny’s in every single pound that our brilliant volunteers raise to help people who are homeless right here in the City of Chester as well as people who are refugees abroad.”
At almost 5,000sq ft with 4 times the retail space than the previous unit, the new ShareShop will include a Cafe with a Parent & Baby Area & VIP Pram Parking. The charity are promising that the new venue will have free internet access and plenty of free charging for laptops and mobiles. Also new will be an “InspireRoom”, that companies and groups can hire “in the knowledge that they’ll be supporting people who are homeless right here in Chester and people who are refugees at the same time, every time they have a meeting, complete with tea, coffee & cake packages!”
Said Adam Dandy : “When we set up SHARE we wanted to create a way for the public to be able to donate and see exactly how their money was being used to support people who are homeless and assist people who are refugees, the Suspended Coffees, the Buy a Brick Appeal, the Kindness Wall and now the the Share Hub, as well as recent convoys of aid to Refugees in Ukraine from Chester and North Wales and the amazing work that our teams of volunteers do in our ShareShop in Mold, by distributing aid to hundreds of resettled families, mothers and children placed into emergency care, and people struggling to keep a roof over the heads each month, all of these different parts of SHARE give public a way to really know and feel their donation or contribution has made a direct difference to someone else in their hour of need.
The new ShareShop at the old Dawson’s Music Store on Pepper St, next to Chester Amphitheatre, will continue to fund and support all of these different parts of the charity with your help and custom and we’d love you to join us or support us by coming in for a brew, a cake, some shopping, to volunteer or just to have a look around the next time you’re in Chester.
“We’d like all our supporters to be the first through the doors when we open, so we’d like to invite you all to our grand opening in September – Watch this space! In order to get our brand new ShareShop set up with minimum cost, we are in need of the following trades and supplies, please tag anyone who might be able to sponsor or donate these services: Joiner, electrician, vinyl flooring, shop front signage, soft play equipment, interior decorator. ”
Since Chester’s MP Chris Matheson opened it’s first shop on the 16th of January 2016 opposite Storyhouse, Chester’s ShareShop has played a key role in helping to shape provision and a voice for people who are homeless in the city, with some even working in the shop itself and later gaining jobs at local employers including Chester Zoo.
Notably the ShareShop is the home of Suspended Coffees in Chester, where you can go to purchase a hot drink for someone who is homeless, even writing a kind message on the coffee cup sleeve.
The charity’s recent Buy A Brick Appeal saw bricks on wallpaper being sold and signed with supportive messages for £1 each, to buy a 3 bedroom house in the city centre, which now houses up to 3 people who are homeless, as a stepping stone to helping people off the streets.
The charity shop also directly funds the Share Hub on City Rd, which feeds, clothes and supports up to 100 people each week who are homeless, either living in hostels, temporary accommodation, struggling to keep a roof over their heads or sleeping rough, providing free internet access, help to apply for housing, writing CVs and applying for employment, as well as a weekly Arts Club.
Stay tuned!