COMMUNITY-minded Bromsgrove people Pat Tansell and Gareth Worton were given the chance to officially open AgeUK’s new pop-up shop on the High Street last Friday.
Pat is a life-long Bromsgrove resident and local history enthusiast and vice-chair of the Bromsgrove Society. She is also involved with the Housman Society and WORDS and worked as a library assistant at Bromsgrove Library for 38 years before retiring in 2019.
Gareth was born in Manchester and has lived in the Isle of Man, Umtali (now Mutare) in Southern Rhodesia and Salisbury (now Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe).
He has had several jobs over the years but, with his two children already in London, Gareth and his wife returned to England in 2007, moving to Stoke Prior.
In 2009 Gareth joined Morrisons Bromsgrove and after several roles, he was appointed ‘Community Champion’, a role which he has become well-known for locally.
Gareth retired from Morrisons in 2020, and later that year he joined Bromsgrove Men In Sheds, run by AgeUK Bromsgrove, Redditch and Wyre Forest.
He is also the verger at St Michael and All Angels Church (Stoke Prior).
The official opening of the store at 113 High Street – the former Dorothy Perkins shop – was well-attended.
It specialises in good-quality, pre-loved furniture and homeware and also offers a range of sustainable and affordable clothing and shoes, books and toys plus ‘vintage items’ and other ‘great finds’.
The official opening and speeches were broadcast live on the Bromsgrove Standard Facebook page.
Click here to view the video.
