Official opening of Age UK BRWF’s new ‘Pop Up’ Shop

Friday 28th January 2022, saw the official opening of Age UK BRWF’s new ‘Pop Up’ store on Bromsgrove High Street!

The store, which specialises in good-quality, pre-loved furniture and homeware, was officially opened by ‘Community VIPs’ Gareth Worton and Pat Tansell following the charity’s request for nominations from the public to perform the official opening.

Gareth is well-known locally by many people for his role of ‘Community Champion’ at Morrisons (Bromsgrove). Following his retirement from Morrisons in 2020, Gareth joined Bromsgrove Men In Sheds and he is also the verger at St Michael and All Angels Church (Stoke Prior). A lifelong resident of Bromsgrove and a local history enthusiast, Pat worked as a Library Assistant at Bromsgrove Library for 38 years before taking early retirement in 2019. Pat is Vice-Chair the Bromsgrove Society, which is a joint civic and history society. A keen supporter of local arts events, she is also involved with the Housman Society and WORDS which promotes spoken and written word events.

In addition to the ‘Community VIPs’, the opening was also attended by Councillor Shirley Webb (representing Bromsgrove District Council), Councillor Gareth Prosser (Mayor of Redditch), Graeme Anderson (Chair of Bromsgrove Partnership and Chief Executive of bdht), Jo Slade (representing Bromsgrove Court Leet) and Ann Isherwood (representing HoW College) as well as being live streamed by Bromsgrove Standard - you can watch the Standard's video of the opening via this link!

Age UK BRWF is really grateful for all of the support and lovely comments that it has received following the opening of its new store. Age UK BRWF’s CEO, Amanda Allen, added,

"The last two few years have been incredibly difficult for everyone, but this period has shown that our local services (including our free Information & Advice and Befriending services) have never been needed more, but we need the support of our communities so that we can continue helping others. If you have any pre-loved furniture and household items that you would like to donate, we would really appreciate you getting in touch (we can offer a free collection service). If you would like to support us by buying items from our new store, then we can also offer a delivery service (with local delivery charges). We would also love to hear from anybody that is interested in volunteering at our High Street or any of our other charity shops across North Worcestershire. With your help, we can keep making a difference for people aged 50-plus living in North Worcestershire!”