A charity shop run by Slaithwaite churches is set to close this weekend after 18 years.

Community Spirit’s elderly management committee has struggled to find younger church members to be their replacements.

They recently received the bad news that the shop’s premises would have to be vacated because the owners want to redevelop it. Other premises were offered to them but unfortunately they need renovation and expense.

In a statement, the shop’s management committee said: “Most of the management committee members are now in their 70s and 80s and unfortunately there are no young people in the Slaithwaite churches able to take on our roles.

Some of the volunteer Slaithwaite churches members who help run the Community Spirit charity shop on Britannia Road which will be closing on Saturday (July 15). left to right, Pat Sandford, Pat Rhodes, and Lesley Fell.

“The changes in circumstances promoted the shop to consider its future, its aims and its standing in charity law with the result that at the recent AGM a vote was taken and the majority voted for the shop to close.

“The shop has been able to operate throughout its existence due to the hard work of many volunteers from the churches and the village community, yet the shop would not have thrived without the support and the donations of goods provided by the public.

“The shop, over the past 18 years has truly shown its ‘community spirit’.”

Community Spirit, which is housed in Slaithwaite Dyeworks mill on Britannia Road and also has a coffee shop, will close on July 15.

Over the years, aided by around 40 volunteers, the shop gave grants totalling nearly £600,000 to 170 local organisations.