Across our six projects – the Showroom, Refresh, Community Appliances, Community Computers, and Stockport House Clearances – we were able to provide the residents of Stockport and Greater Manchester 215,101 low-cost, high-quality items. Most notably, we sold almost 26,000 items of clothing with items starting from as low as 20p. We were also able to provide almost 19,000 items of fresh, handmade food and drink in Refresh, offering those with a lower income healthy and delicious meals.
These figures are significant given the 2025 winter report from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The report shows that almost 1 million families in the North West have gone without essentials in the last 6-months. Sadly, the statistics suggest that this financial hardship will continue for over 7 million people nationwide.
Renewal North West saw a 20% increase in sales in 2025, meaning that more people in the community had need of low-cost, high-quality items. Although there is sorrow in the increase of need, there is also joy that God has kept Renewal for another year, so that we could be a source of help in the community. We praise God that more people were able to clothe themselves and their children, could buy an affordable and nutritious meal, and could own vital appliances like fridge-freezers and washing machines.
We are also grateful to have retained our wonderful staff in a year that saw so many businesses close due to rising costs, and that we could offer so many voluntary positions offering employment skills, in a year that saw a record high in unemployment. We will continue to do so in 2026, and will be able to offer more employment skills development through the Renewal Living programme, once our new supported-living accommodation is renovated. (If you would like to help us reach our £50,000 target by donating, you can do so here.)
Overall, we are delighted with what we accomplished last year across all our projects and we know that we couldn’t have done it without our supporters. Whether you donated items to our showroom, have been a financial supporter, or have kept Renewal in your prayers – thank you! We pray that God’s generosity will bless you the way your generosity has blessed us.
