Age UK BRWF’s Bridge Street Charity Shop to Close

Age UK BRWF is sad to announce that it will be closing its Bridge Street Charity Shop at the end of November/ early December, after five-years operating in Stourport’s Town Centre.

With over 60% of the charity’s income (which it uses to fund local support and services for older people across the districts of Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wyre Forest) coming from its Retail operations, the pandemic has been a very difficult time for Age UK BRWF.

The charity has made changes to its shops to help keep customers, staff and volunteers safe but, despite the amazing efforts of the team, the Bridge Street shop has struggled in terms of footfall and volunteer support since re-opening, and the charity is making this very difficult decision to protect the rest of its retail operations.

Speaking about the closure, Age UK BRWF’s Acting CEO, Amanda Allen, said ‘I would like to thank the staff and volunteers for everything that they have done to try and make the Bridge Street shop a success, and all our loyal customers for their support. I know that this will be disappointing news for the local community, but I want to reassure people that we remain committed to the town (with our Lickhill Road Charity Shop and Online Hub continuing to operate in Stourport) and that the closure of Bridge Street will not impact the levels of support and services that local people will receive from ourselves. We thank everyone that has donated to and shopped at our Bridge Street shop over the last five years and ask the Stourport community to continue with its support for our Lickhill Road shop so that we can carry on providing much-needed services (including our free Information & Advice and Befriending services) for local older people’.