The owner of a charity shop in High Wycombe has said she ‘didn’t feel welcome’ in the town – despite ambitious plans to support its ‘big Afro-Caribbean population’.

Ruth Obasa founded the charity Jewins Women2Women after moving from Nigeria to Nottingham over 25 years ago, with a mission statement of shedding light on abusive relationships in ethnic minority groups.

She opened the non-profit’s first African-product-led charity shop in Oxford in 2022, but, after less-than-ideal returns and an eye on the “big Afro-Caribbean population” of High Wycombe, she upped sticks and started over at a Desbox unit on East Richardson Street in March of this year.

Now, just over three months later, Ruth has decided to close the branch, citing an “unsuitable location” and a lack of support from Buckinghamshire Council to help make ends meet.

She said her efforts to secure funding from the council’s Community Board were met with resistance – accusing the local authority of “tossing her around” with periods of no communication – and said Chandler Garvey, the letting agent for Desbox, disregarded her concerns about the inaccessibility of the shop, effectively inside a “gated community”.

“We were losing money, and the rent was too much for what we were making. But it would have been easier if we had funding from the community board to run counselling and coaching sessions. We didn’t feel welcome and we certainly weren’t helped.”

READ MORE: Bucks mobile homes boss to pay woman £7,500 after new road ‘encroached’ on her pitch

A spokesperson for Buckinghamshire Council said: “Unfortunately, the location of this charity shop has not proven to be viable for the tenant. The council offered advice to them during the time they’ve been situated in High Wycombe and during the period when they explored their options before taking the decision to close.

“We value constructive dialogue with all organisations we work with and have adopted the same approach to this charity as with the many others we engage with, work with and support.”

Michael Garvey, managing director of Chandler Garvey, said the Desbox units play an important role in providing “a home for small businesses in a property sector mostly focused on bigger units for bigger businesses”.

He added: “As is often the case in a multi-level environment like this, some occupiers interpret the rules differently from others and also have different expectations about the relative responsibilities of the landlord and tenant.

“We have experienced some general issues with this tenant and equally the tenant has had some concerns about a range of matters, but in my experience, these are typical issues in this sort of environment where expectations are not fully aligned.”