{"id":502404,"date":"2025-10-15T20:54:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T20:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/502404\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T20:54:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T20:54:14","slug":"it-was-hard-as-a-single-mum-but-now-im-changing-lives-in-my-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/502404\/","title":{"rendered":"‘It was hard as a single mum but now I’m changing lives in my town’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Michelle Naylor said: “Some days are just hard, just hard being a mum, being a parent.”\"MichelleMichelle Naylor at the opening of Shine Together community hub’s social supermarket in Liscard today(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

A mum said she didn\u2019t realise how bad things were in the Merseyside town she grew up in until recently. Michelle Naylor, who once had only \u00a32.20 to heat her home<\/a>, hopes to change people\u2019s lives by bringing a first to the area.<\/p>\n

Community organisation Shine Together, <\/a>based at 28 Fairview Avenue in Liscard,<\/a> will be running a social supermarket on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays between 10am and 2pm. It will be open to everyone, access won\u2019t be means tested, and prices will be around half the usual price.<\/p>\n

Shine Together has been open since May. Michelle previously told the ECHO<\/a> how life used to be hard as a single mum with three boys with \u00a32.20 in her electric meter.<\/a><\/p>\n

On October 15, she said: \u201cWhen I was younger, there was nothing like this. If it had been, it might have been better. Some days are just hard, just hard being a mum, being a parent.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s struck me how kind people are and how much need is in the area I grew up in. I was a bit naive to that.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople need help. If they have got that, that makes them feel a bit better and then you can help them get to the root of the problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

Praising her team of volunteers<\/a>, she added: \u201cWhat we have done in that time has changed people\u2019s lives however small. That is what I am proud of.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want people to feel if you are six or 60 to come here and feel a sense of belonging.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"VolunteersVolunteers and members of the Liscard community at the Shine Together community hub(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

Shine Together is run by a group of volunteers who work full or part time <\/a>and was set up by Michelle earlier this year. At the moment, the centre is running without major funding behind it, only charging \u00a31 for its youth club<\/a> while other activities are free.<\/p>\n

Alice Barry, a mum from the area, said it has been a lifeline for her, adding: \u201cIt\u2019s one of those places where they feel happy that you have come in. They are glad to see you.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes everyone feel like they belong here. You feel a real sense of belonging straight away and I trust my children being here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CllrCllr Brian Kenny, Wirral Mayor, said he expected the organisation to go from strength to strength(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

The supermarket was opened on October 15 by Wirral<\/a> Mayor Cllr Brian Kenny. It has been supported by a number of supermarkets including \u00a3600 from the town\u2019s ASDA, Tesco<\/a>, and Feeding Britain provided the fridges and freezers.<\/p>\n

Moira McAdam, from Feeding Britain\u2019s Number 7 Caf\u00e9 in Birkenhead<\/a>, said she had been working with Michelle for years, adding: \u201cThere wasn\u2019t anything like this in this area.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew it was needed and Michelle has turned it around. There are a lot of families who will benefit from what she is doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

She told the ECHO <\/a>not everyone can travel all the way to Birkenhead, adding: \u201cI would like to see a Britain where nobody went hungry, no child went hungry but it\u2019s not going to happen. While we can help, we will help.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"OneOne parent described it as a lifeline for her(Image: Liverpool Echo)<\/p>\n

Manda Davidson, the community champion for Liscard\u2019s ASDA, said: \u201cShine Together is aiming to help people without prejudice. You do not have to prove anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo have a place you know you are not being judged is really important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wirral Mayor Cllr Brian Kenny said the initiative was really positive, adding: \u201cI have always said Wirral is a fantastic place for people to live, work and visit but there are a lot of people out there who sometimes find life a little bit difficult so it\u2019s fantastic to see something like this open up.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s so important for people to have something like this to come on down if they\u2019re feeling a bit down and there\u2019s someone there to welcome them with a smile on their face and have a chat.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Michelle Naylor said: “Some days are just hard, just hard being a mum, being a parent.”Michelle Naylor at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502405,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8815],"tags":[748,393,4884,50013,179,285,16,15,8881,9313],"class_list":{"0":"post-502404","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-liverpool","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-liscard","12":"tag-liverpool","13":"tag-politics","14":"tag-uk","15":"tag-united-kingdom","16":"tag-wirral","17":"tag-wirral-council"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115380176627569311","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502404\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502405"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}