Wigan borough charity founder to receive royal honour

A Wigan borough woman is to be awarded a prestigious accolade for her charitable work with disadvantaged people.
By Holly Pritchard
Published 1st Jun 2022, 22:30 BST
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Dorothy Bowker, 75, is the founder of The Bridge, a social supermarket based in Leigh, and she can now add a British Empire Medal to a Queen’s award she received only last year.

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Dorothy started her project in 2016 with a vision for a community café and social supermarket and has remained the driving force behind it.

Dorothy Bowker from Leigh, is to be awarded a BEM (British Empire Medal) for her charitable work in the community. She has set up a 'social supermarket' and has plans for a community cafe later this year.Dorothy Bowker from Leigh, is to be awarded a BEM (British Empire Medal) for her charitable work in the community. She has set up a 'social supermarket' and has plans for a community cafe later this year.
Dorothy Bowker from Leigh, is to be awarded a BEM (British Empire Medal) for her charitable work in the community. She has set up a 'social supermarket' and has plans for a community cafe later this year.

Her citation reads: “She now works tirelessly for its success and has an excellent relationship with the volunteers and members of the community who rely on it to shop for food.”

The Bridge was originally a community café which provided a valuable drop-in centre for people who are disabled, disadvantaged, unemployed, lonely and just in need of an affordable cup of tea or coffee.

Volunteers took care of all aspects of the running of the café, including food preparation, serving, waiting on, clearing tables and washing up while the food procurement and safeguarding was done by the paid staff.

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During lockdown the team packed and delivered around 100 food hampers per day to both their members and others who were in need.

Dorothy Bowker from Leigh, is to be awarded a BEM (British Empire Medal) for her charitable work in the community. She has set up a 'social supermarket' and has plans for a community cafe later this year.Dorothy Bowker from Leigh, is to be awarded a BEM (British Empire Medal) for her charitable work in the community. She has set up a 'social supermarket' and has plans for a community cafe later this year.
Dorothy Bowker from Leigh, is to be awarded a BEM (British Empire Medal) for her charitable work in the community. She has set up a 'social supermarket' and has plans for a community cafe later this year.

The rising demand for their food baskets turned the cafe space into a social supermarket.

This operates on a members’ programme where for an annual £2 fee, people can shop for their groceries at approximately 20 per cent off the price of a regular supermarket shop.

Within the catchment area there are large numbers of families with very little income, whose children are living with a large degree of food poverty, with only food banks as an alternative.

The Bridge offers its members a source of inexpensive food and the opportunity to choose what they would like to buy in a socially inclusive and non-judgemental environment, giving people the utmost dignity.

Trustee Dorothy Bowker outside The Bridge at Leigh has received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, pictured at the Food Market off The Avenue, Leigh.Trustee Dorothy Bowker outside The Bridge at Leigh has received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, pictured at the Food Market off The Avenue, Leigh.
Trustee Dorothy Bowker outside The Bridge at Leigh has received the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service, pictured at the Food Market off The Avenue, Leigh.
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Dorothy said: “I received an official looking letter in the post in April and when I opened it, it was a nice surprise I did wonder who had nominated me.

“The charity had received the Queen’s award last year but I was quite surprised to get this.

“In 2016 we started off as a small cafe with a bit of extra food and it just grew into something massive.

"There is a lot of need for it, especially now.

“We shut the cafe during the lockdown and the social supermarket has taken over that whole area now, but we have plans for another building.

"There’s going to be a cafe and a well being hub in there, hopefully later this year.

"The social supermarket is very, very busy, it’s grown from what was just a few baskets a few years ago to us having nearly 4,000 members.

“Since January this year we’ve had about 1,000 new members.

“We’ve no control over what items we get but our members swap and share food recipies with each other.

“I am going to accept the medal on behalf of all the team and for my husband Frank, he has done just as much work as me for the charity.”

Related topics:QueenWiganLeighVolunteers