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Community food market is 'absolute lifesaver'

Jasmine Du Fraisse
BBC News, Manchester
BBC / Jasmine Du Fraisse Ann Molineux is smiling as she stands outside the shop. She has shoulder length blonde hair and is wearing a pink woolly hat, pink roll neck jumper and a khaki green winter coat.BBC / Jasmine Du Fraisse
Customer Ann Molineux says people rely on the community shop

A community food market which sells surplus produce at low prices is "an absolute life saver", a regular customer has said.

The Bridge at Leigh in the Wigan town was opened to help support families who would otherwise be forced to choose between heating or eating as the cost of living has increased.

Ann Molineux, 64, said many people relied on shops like The Bridge, while other customers said the store helped them "make ends meet".

Trustee Dorothy Bowker said the initiative was also helping to tackle the problem of food waste.

The project's aim is to reduce the cost of a weekly food shop for the 5,000 or so families who pay an annual subscription of £2 to use it.

BBC / Jasmine Du Fraisse Dorothy Bowker stands in front of produce including boxes of cereal in the shop. She is wearing a black gilet with a logo which says 'The Bridge' as well as a black and white patterned blouse.BBC / Jasmine Du Fraisse
Dorothy Bowker says the shop supports families who might otherwise have to choose between heating or eating

Ms Bowker said: "People are struggling.

"It's like they say, 'heat or eat', so if they can save money on food, they can use it on other things."

It also diverts perfectly edible food from landfill by selling surplus produce at low prices, she said.

The concept for The Bridge came from the former cafe on the site which sold small baskets of leftover food.

She said about 200 people came through the door each day.

Ms Molineux who shops there regularly described it as "an absolute lifesaver for a lot of people".

BBC / Jasmine Du Fraisse Joan Good is smiling as she stands outside the shop. She is wearing a grey jacket and a pink scarf and she has long brown hair.BBC / Jasmine Du Fraisse
Joan Good said she wished there was a community shop like The Bridge in every town across the country

Another customer, Kate said she was glad of the shop as "everything seemed to have just shot up" in price and she and her family, including two young children, were "finding it quite tough to make ends meet".

She said that they "find ways around it by using places like this".

"I think it helps communities loads because it saves a lot of food from going to landfill and especially with the prices of stuff in the shops at the minute, it just helps take that pressure away," she added.

Fellow customer, Joan Good said there needed to be similar initiatives in every town.

"I think it's brilliant. It's really good value for money and saves all this wastage," she said.

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