Charity’s shop will help boost funds
A DOMESTIC abuse charity that has helped hundreds of people during lockdown has opened its own shop.
Butterflies Inspired by Angels is the brand new charity shop on Liverpool Road in Eccles, Salford, and is run by the Salford Survivors Project.
The shop has been opened in memory of the young men and women who have lost their lives to domestic violence and will be used to raise funds for the charity to help them continue their hard work.
The project also has a helpline that is open seven days a week, manned by people with experience of abuse.
According to CEO Jane Gregory, they saw a 400 per cent increase in the number of calls to the service during the lockdown, which put a financial strain on the project.
She said: “I want this place to help people, we thought about doing a charity shop back in 2013, but this year, when lockdown came we were really depleted with funds and I don’t want the charity to be in that position ever again.
“I think you need to give people power and some dignity, so the idea is that this will be a base where they can come and choose clothes, nappies, wipes and things like that.
“We’re also going to be a point of contact, raising awareness for domestic violence and abuse in the area.”
The shop is in memory of all those who have lost their lives to domestic abuse and the families of Dean Darvill, Leanne McNuff, Linzi Ashton, Becky Ayres, Nikki Campbell and Olivia Humphreys made an appearance to cut the ribbon and welcome customers to the new shop.
Leanne McNuff’s father James was at the opening and spoke about the ‘fantastic’ work Salford Survivors Project has managed to do in his daughter’s memory.
He said: “This is absolutely fantastic. My daughter was a ball of fun, she was full of life and everybody knew her, I’ve got good memories, but I wanted more.”
The Salford Survivors project was formed in 2012 and currently has 25 volunteers and in 2019 they won Salford’s charity of the year.