Key Points
- Warburtons has partnered with Bolton Council and Community Shop to open Community Shop Sunnyside in Great Lever later this year.
- The project will be based at the former Sunnyside Park Lodge and will include a community store, community hub and community kitchen.
- Bolton Council is funding the regeneration of the vacant building into a new community asset.
- The community store will offer deeply discounted food and household essentials, including fruit, vegetables and bread through the Plenty for 20 range.
- Profits from the store will be reinvested into the community hub, which will provide support programmes to help people build skills and confidence.
- The community kitchen will serve home-cooked meals, and children will eat free every day.
- Community Shop Sunnyside will operate a free membership model for local residents who receive means-tested benefits.
- Great Lever has been described as one of the UK’s most deprived communities, according to the announcement.
- The project was approved by Bolton Council’s planning team on 16 April 2026.
Bolton (Bolton Today) July 15, 2026 - One of Bolton’s best-known business names is backing a new community-led food initiative in Great Lever, with Warburtons joining Bolton Council and social enterprise Community Shop to open Community Shop Sunnyside later this year.
The new facility will be created at the former Sunnyside Park Lodge and is being positioned as a social supermarket with three linked parts: a community store, a community hub and a community kitchen. The project aims to combine low-cost shopping with support services and a shared space for local residents, in what the partners say is intended to strengthen community ties in an area facing deep social and economic pressures.
What is Community Shop Sunnyside?
Community Shop Sunnyside is being developed as a multi-purpose community asset rather than a conventional retail unit. The store element will sell discounted food and household goods, while the hub will focus on development programmes designed to help people learn new skills, improve confidence and access wider support. The kitchen will function as a café-style space offering home-cooked meals, with free meals for children every day.
As reported by the Bolton Council announcement, the scheme will occupy a vacant building in Great Lever that is being regenerated through funding from Bolton Council and support from Warburtons. The council has framed the project as part of a broader effort to return unused property to productive community use, while giving residents access to lower-cost essentials and practical help.
Why are Warburtons and Bolton Council involved?
Warburtons’ role is significant because the company has long-standing roots in Bolton and is marking 150 years in business this year. In the council’s announcement, executive director Brett Warburton said the company had been part of the local community for 150 years and was proud to help bring a new Community Shop to Bolton. He added that, as a family business, Warburtons believes it has a role in supporting communities across the country.
The local partnership also reflects the wider Community Shop model, which is designed to provide what the organisation describes as a “hand up, not a hand-out”. According to the announcement, members will be able to access the shop through a free membership scheme if they live locally and receive a means-tested benefit. The aim is to make the offer targeted, affordable and linked to wider personal development support.
What will people be able to buy?
The store will focus on heavily discounted food and household essentials, rather than full-price general retail. A particular feature of the offer will be the Plenty for 20 range, which includes fruit, vegetables and bread for 20p each. The wider purpose is not only to ease pressure on household budgets, but also to reduce waste by using products that can still be sold safely at low cos
According to Bolton Council, profits generated by the shop will be reinvested into the Community Hub. That hub will then fund and support programmes aimed at helping people build skills, gain confidence and move forward in practical ways. The Community Kitchen is expected to give the site a stronger social role by offering a place to eat, meet and connect, especially for families who may be struggling with food insecurity.
How will the community hub work?
The community hub is being presented as the development arm of the project. It will deliver holistic support and development programmes, with the stated goal of helping residents learn new skills and build confidence. That approach links retail, welfare support and social engagement in one place, which is central to the Community Shop model.
Community Shop said the model has already supported more than 83,000 families since it began in 2013. It also said members have saved more than £66 million on food shopping, while Community Hubs have delivered more than 290,000 development programmes. The group added that its Community Kitchens have served more than 1 million free kids’ meals, underlining the scale of the wider network behind the Bolton project.
What does this mean for Great Lever?
Great Lever has been singled out in the announcement as one of the UK’s most deprived communities. That makes the arrival of a social supermarket especially significant, because the project is being framed not simply as a shop but as a local intervention in cost-of-living pressure, food access and community support. The partners say the scheme will provide practical help for households while also creating a more welcoming community space.
The choice of the former Sunnyside Park Lodge is also symbolically important. A vacant building is being repurposed into a site that aims to serve everyday needs, and the council has said the regeneration will turn an unused asset into a new community benefit. That fits with the broader local authority approach of bringing dormant buildings back into use where possible.
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What happened before the launch?
The project had already been moving through the planning process earlier this year. Bolton Council’s planning team approved the new Community Shop on 16 April 2026. Reporting from The Bolton News in April said the former Sunnyside Community Centre had been closed since 2018 after issues linked to vandalism, antisocial behaviour and health and safety concerns.
That earlier reporting also noted that the facility was expected to include a shop, café and community advice services. The proposal was described as aimed at offering discounted short-dated food and other products, while also providing budgeting, job skills and well-being support funded by the shop’s revenues. Those details closely match the structure now being advanced by Bolton Council and Warburtons.
What are the opening details?
Bolton Council said Community Shop Sunnyside will open later this year, while Company Shop Group’s social media post referred to an autumn opening. The announcement did not give a precise launch date, but it did confirm that refurbishment is under way. The project will be delivered as a partnership between Warburtons, Bolton Council and Community Shop.
The council announcement and Community Shop’s own post both stress the local nature of the project. Warburtons’ Bolton roots and the council’s regeneration funding have been positioned as central to the scheme’s identity. In practical terms, that means the new site will combine private-sector support, public-sector backing and social enterprise delivery.
Why does it matter now?
The timing matters because the scheme arrives during a period when many families are still feeling cost-of-living pressure. A community shop model that combines discounted food, free meals for children and support programmes is likely to be seen locally as both a welfare tool and a neighbourhood regeneration project. It is also a high-profile example of a Bolton-born company working directly with the council on a social initiative.
Warburtons’ involvement gives the story added local resonance because the company is widely associated with Bolton’s industrial and business identity. By putting its weight behind a community-led model, the firm is linking its anniversary year to a practical community intervention. For Bolton Council, the project offers a visible way to show regeneration in action through a building that had previously been vacant.
What have the organisations said?
Bolton Council said the scheme will bring “life-changing” support to Great Lever, according to its news release. The council described the project as a “social supermarket” that will provide access to deeply discounted essentials and wider support through the hub. Community Shop said the model is designed to support families while giving them dignity and practical help.
Brett Warburton’s quoted remarks were notably rooted in family and place. He said the company has been part of the local community for 150 years and is proud to help bring Community Shop to Bolton. He also said Warburtons believes family businesses have a role to play in supporting communities across the country.
How does this fit the wider picture?
The Bolton project sits within a wider national pattern of social supermarkets and community hubs being used to tackle food insecurity. The Community Shop model has already been rolled out elsewhere, with the organisation saying it has supported tens of thousands of families through a combination of low-cost shopping and development support. That background helps explain why the Great Lever site is being framed as more than a shop.
It is also notable that the project emerged through a mix of planning approval, regeneration funding and social enterprise delivery. That combination makes it a useful local example of how councils and businesses can jointly repurpose vacant property for community benefit. In Bolton, the result is expected to be a place where residents can shop more cheaply, access support and spend time in a shared space.
What happens next?
Refurbishment work is already under way, and the planned launch is later this year, with autumn indicated in related coverage. Once opened, the site will begin serving eligible local residents through membership-based access. The success of the project will likely be judged not only by how many people use the store, but by whether the hub and kitchen become regular parts of community life.
The core promise of the scheme is straightforward: reduce pressure on households while giving people a place to connect and receive support. For Warburtons, Bolton Council and Community Shop, the test will be whether that promise can be delivered consistently on the ground in Great Lever. The partnership has now moved from planning to implementation, with the public launch set to follow later in the year.