Helping all from homeless and nurses to struggling BMW drivers: Community store marks first birthday

A Teesside community shop which helps everyone from the homeless to nurses and police officers is celebrating its first birthday.

Middlesbrough Community Grocery opened its doors on June 1, 2022, and has served the people of Middlesbrough and surrounding areas ever since. Operating out of a wooden unit in the car park of St Barnabus Church in Linthorpe, shoppers can grab a bag of groceries for just £4 and become a member for £5 per year.

Over the last 12 months, the shop – which is described as a mid point between a supermarket and a foodbank, has helped 1,880 families and supports everyone from asylum seekers fleeing war to NHS workers hoping to make ends meet that month. Stephen Mussard is the manager of the shop and spoke to Teesside Live during Middlesbrough Community Grocery’s first birthday celebrations.

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The celebrations saw families enjoy free tea, coffee and cake in the church hall and children were able to play on a bouncy castle, while Stephen and a handful of the volunteers manned the shop – where people can grab a bag of shopping or donate fresh, frozen and tinned goods.

Former nurse Stephen, 48, said: “We are a bridge from a food bank to a regular supermarket shop, we do £12 for £4 but we get donations from supermarkets as well as Greggs, Nandos and KFC donates to us four times a week too. The demand for us varies, we have some customers that turn up who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, we have people who are seeking asylum from Ukraine, we even have police officers and teachers who use it when they’re struggling.

“Approximately we have 1,200 members on our books and we have about 60-80 people coming in Monday-Friday, we also have a pay it forward scheme so those who maybe have a little bit more money can pay £4 for someone else’s’ shop then someone who’s homeless or struggling then can get some shopping for themselves by using that. It’s good that the Community Grocery is here in the first place – but it’s a shame that we have to exist because of the hard times that people are going through.”

Middlesbrough Community Grocery is not the only one of its kind in Teesside; with shops in Ragworth in Stockton and Redcar also serving their respective communities. After opening up in June last year, the Middlesbrough branch had a rough start as they were broken into and the shop was left ransacked as a result.

Stephen has been reflected over the last 12 months and shared some of the difficult stories of people who the shop has helped during that time

He added: “We didn’t start that well because we had a break in but the community has been amazing and so supportive ever since, the first few weeks was tough because we were smashed to bits. With it being half term this week it’s definitely quieter, although we’re based in quite an underprivileged area we get so many different people in – we’ve had people pull up in their BMWs and we think ‘surely not’ but they’re struggling between pay checks so have to use the shop to get buy.

“One of the stories that stands out to me over the last year is two lads who came down, they were living on the Eston Hills and came here thinking we were the food bank in the church but it was shut, so we got in touch with one in North Ormesby which was about to close in 20 minutes. These two guys were in their 50s and under the influence of alcohol but I put them in my van and drove them up to the food bank, they gave me 10p for the fuel – they had absolutely nothing and tried to give me a few pence because they were so grateful that we were able to help them out.”

As well as the people of surrounding areas in TS5, Middlesbrough Community Grocery has helped people who have travelled from further afield, with people as far as Great Ayton and Stokesley coming down to pick up some shopping. Stephen and the team will continue to support their shoppers through the cost of living crisis and beyond.

“It’s a double edged sword because we get a lot of support and donations from the community, but it should never have come down to people using us and food banks. We have a lot of volunteers that are retired and bored or young people who are students who want to help out so we have a good mix who want to serve the local community.

“The next year I think we’re just going to grow, the cost of living isn’t going anywhere and food prices are through the roof! We’re here for a few years at least, and we hope to continue to be that stop gap for people.”

Membership costs just £5 per year and members can then visit multiple times a week choosing their own shopping for their families. To find out more about Middlesbrough Community Grocery, visit here.

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