Samaritans is set to open a charity shop in Weston-super-Mare's High Street.
The charity, which offers round-the-clock emotional support for people in distress, has occupied the first and second floors of the building opposite Grove Park since 1984.
Following the closure of Archie's Chippy on the ground floor, Samaritans will use the space to launch a shop.
The charity says this will bring "major improvements" to the building, disabled access and improved working conditions for volunteers.
The shop will raise funds to secure the future of the branch by selling books, retro and vintage items, vinyl, haberdashery and bric-a-brac.
In the last 12 months, Weston's Samaritans have answered around 15,300 phone calls, 1000 emails and over 600 texts.
The branch's deputy director Holly Cole said: “This is a massive step forward for us.
"For many years we have been aiming for disabled access and now this will be possible.
"It means our doors will be fully open for people with mobility issues, be they volunteers or members of the public seeking face to face contact.
“We have a valuable corner position on the High Street and it will make us much more visible to the public, allowing us to promote our services to those local people struggling to cope.”
The opening date is yet to be confirmed, but work on the building started earlier this month and is expected to last around eight weeks.
In the meantime, the charity is advertising for a part-time manager to run the new charity shop, as well as a team of volunteer retail assistants.
Information on the manager’s role is available by calling 07938 058973 or emailing samaritansrecruitmentwsm@yahoo.com
Details on how to become a shop volunteer will be available in the near future.
Samaritans are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and can be called free of charge on 116 123.
