A CHARITY aimed at tackling poverty and disadvantage has opened its doors in Birkenhead.

The new St Vincent De Paul (SVP) store in the town’s Pyramids Shopping Centre was opened by Birkenhead MP Frank Field, who has himself campaigned against food poverty.

He said: “This is a hugely important development that will help vulnerable people in Birkenhead and beyond.”

The shop will offer good quality second hand items from beds and three-piece suites down to DVDs and CDs as well as clothing and white goods.

It will provide household items for those who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford them.

SVP dates back more than 200 years and emanated from the Catholic Church with which it retains strong links.

Each year, its 350 volunteers across 14 furniture projects in England and Wales make more than 10,000 deliveries and collections to individuals and families in need.

The new store is the second in the Wirral area with an existing shop in Wallasey.

SVP’s locality manager David Foster said: “We’re delighted to be opening in Birkenhead because we receive a lot of support in the area.

“We operate a distribution centre for furniture and household items for people in need and also sell secondhand furniture, white goods, clothing and basically all those things that make a house a home all at affordable prices.

“We sell affordable everyday items and the funds we generate locally are invested locally.

“We have helped people who have lost everything in a fire to people who need help getting to hospital.

“We used to have a presence in Birkenhead on the edge of the town centre but we were very keen to get into the shopping centre and this is a much better location for us.

“The centre has been very helpful and Frank Field has been very supportive of us and we’re very grateful to him for coming to open the new shop.”

Derek Millar, manager of the Pyramids Shopping Centre, added: “The shopping centre is at the heart of the Birkenhead community and is the main shopping centre on the Wirral so it is the ideal location for a fantastic charity such as this which works so hard to support needy people in the area.

“We are delighted to play our part in bringing this charity service to the people of Birkenhead and the store’s opening follows on from a bumper set of new businesses joining the centre.”

The new SVP store is appealing for stock and while smaller items can be left at the store, larger items will be picked up.

  • If you have a donation, call 0151 647 8599 or for more information go to svp.org.uk