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HOSPITALITY AND HOPE, WHICH WAS FOUNDED IN 2002, SAY MORE PEOPLE THAN EVER BEFORE NEED TO ACCESS THEIR SERVICES 13:41, 02 Jun 2025Updated 15:16, 03 Jun 2025 A charity which has been

supporting families for over 20 years has issued an urgent appeal as demand for the service continues to rise. Hospitality and Hope, which was founded in 2002, say more people than ever

before need to access their services. Hospitality and Hope services include three Community Shops, a Charity Shop, and a supported living accommodation service in South Tyneside, as well

wellbeing and debt advice sessions. But due to funding they can only help a set number of people each week, meaning there are often waiting lists. Wayne Madden, Operations Manager at

Hospitality and Hope, says: "We've seen an increase in usage and membership for the community shops. Due to the funding available we can only allow 150 households per week to use

each community shop and have been consistently nearing that over the last couple of months. There are often waiting lists." Hospitality and Hope's community shops provide healthy

food at discounted prices in a bid to break the cycle of reliance on foodbanks. Last year the Trussel charity's community of foodbanks, which includes Hospitality and Hope's

foodbank, distributed 2.9 million emergency food parcels over 12 months – equivalent to one parcel every 11 seconds. Anyone living within 1.5 miles of a Hospitality and Hope community shop

can access its food services by receiving a membership, which allows one shop per week to buy discounted goods. Members can pick their own produce, including basics such as cereal, milk,

bread, pasta, rice, fresh fruit and vegetables and toiletries, with 10 items costing only £4. Article continues below The shops also offer a space for support and wellbeing with the charity

hosting activities, education and support sessions for members of the community. Wayne says many of the people using the community shops are struggling with the cost of living and the shops

offer them a 'lifeline'. OUR CHRONICLELIVE DAILY NEWSLETTER IS FREE. YOU CAN SIGN UP TO RECEIVE IT HERE. It will keep you up to date with all the latest breaking news and top

stories from the North East. He said: "For many it's a lifeline. Two families who attended one of the shop's wellbeing events recently became friends having never met before

despite only living around the corner from each other. For them that’s been life changing. It’s about forming a community. "We've met people who have come to us in a crisis,

received an emergency parcel from our food bank and then gone on to become a community shop member and attended wellbeing events. Some even become volunteers and then paid members of

staff." Hospitality and Hope now needs to raise more money than ever to keep the shelves of its shops stocked and its wellbeing sessions running. And in a bid to help boost funding and

cover mounting costs, the charity is appealing for more supporters to raise donations through the easyfundraising website and app where Hospitality and Hope is a registered cause. Article

continues below Once supporters have signed up to easyfundraising and chosen Hospitality and Hope as their cause the retailers they shop with via the easyfundraising website – from John

Lewis to Just Eat- will automatically donate a percentage of their purchase to Hospitality and Hope without adding any extra expense to their bill. Wayne added: "With easyfundraising we

like that those who choose to support us can do so without going to further personal expense, it's included within the price of their purchases. It's an easy system to use and

promote and refer people too within the work we do and it's quite universal, there's likely nobody who wouldn't be able to support us." To date Hospitality and Hope has

raised close to £200 through easyfundraising. Support them with every online shop here.