Community store opens in Laindon for struggling households

A community supermarket with discounted prices has opened to help people struggling with the inflationary cost of living in Essex.

The Hope Community Supermarket at Laindon Community Centre is open to anyone in the Basildon area.

The supermarket is being run by the Billericay Street Pastors and Hopethree16, with investment from Essex County Council.

The non-profit project is one of two the council has been supporting.

A second supermarket in Jaywick near Clacton was also in development, the authority said.

The community supermarkets "offer people who may be struggling with food bills the opportunity to purchase food and household essentials at reduced prices", the council said.

The supermarket follows a model designed by national network Feeding Britain, and it also has support from Basildon Council.

Customers are charged a one-off fee of £3.50 to shop there. The food is near its end-of-shelf-life and donated by local branches of well-known supermarket chains.

Phil Norton, chairman of Billericay Street Pastors, said: "The introduction of this new supermarket will mean that local people will be able to save some money on their weekly bills, giving them essential extra funds for things like utility bills or school uniform or anything else that their families need.

"We look forward to building relationships with all our customers and welcome anyone from the local area to pop in."

The store will open weekly on a Friday.

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