VOLUNTEERS from Southend YMCA’s Princes Trust project helped spruce up a charity shop in Westcliff.

The Peaceful Place shop, in St Helen’s Road, is due to open on July 7 after the hard work by the volunteers to refurbish it. The group, aged between 17 and 22, are carrying out the work as part of a 12-week community project.

They painted walls and made storage units after raising more than £1,000, through sponsored walks and fancy dress days, to fund the project.

Peaceful Place is a Rochfordbased charity catering for sufferers of young-onset dementia and their carers.

Mark Withers, trust coordinator, said: “The volunteers worked hard to raise the money and now they’re seeing it put to use. We did Peaceful Place’s first shop in Southend, so it’s nice to work together again.”

The group also attended a workshop to help them become dementia friends, part of a Government-backed scheme to educate more people about living with the condition.