A SHOP aiming to provide help and support to people struggling to make ends meet has opened in Redcar.

The Next Step Shop, based on Queen Street, is being run by local charity Footprints in the Community as an additional outlet to its Redcar Area Foodbank.

This new shop has a focus on people that regularly go to the foodbank, with a ‘members only’ policy.

The idea is that members will pay £2 a week and will be able to choose ten items of food to a value of £10 to £15 with the hope being that the numbers of people using the Foodbank will reduce while giving them a self-esteem boost at the same time.

As well as support from Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council, the charity received funding from Awards for All – a National Lottery scheme – which will see the shop open two days a week, Tuesday and Friday between 11am and 1pm, initially during the pilot scheme running until January 2016.

Ruth Fox, manager of Footprints in the Community, said: “We're confident that the Next Step Shop will be an empowering ‘next step’ for many local people, helping them to overcome whatever difficulties they may be facing. In light of the recent redundancies we feel that this service will be invaluable to the community."

Customers who are looking to use the shop will need to complete an application form which needs to be counter-signed by an agency before it is submitted.

To find out more visit footprintsinthecommunity.co.uk