A pioneering food co-op in West Yorkshire has added childcare, counselling and employment training to its menu in a bid to tackle the underlying causes of poor health in the local community - poverty, crime and isolation.

The co-op in Ovenden, one of the most deprived estates in Halifax, now provides a drop-in service to teenage prostitutes as well as the full range of cheap fresh produce you would normally expect from such a scheme.

"This area has a high teenage pregnancy rate and high unemployment, with a lot of mental and sexual health problems. It's been crying out for this kind of service," says project manager and local resident Karen Jowett.

The project began in 1999 as a weekly fruit and veg stall before opening a shop in the local Frank Swires health centre last August. Ms Jowett says: "We organised a survey of 3,000 local residents, which found that most of them could not afford to buy fresh fruit and vegetables."

There are now 243 members who pay an annual £1 membership fee to buy food for up to a third less than supermarket prices. Some can also get food on prescription from the resident GP at a further 10% discount.

GP Dr Suryagopal Sukumaran says his patients now eat far more healthily. "They can go to the shop straight after a consultation. Children buy apples from there rather than getting bags of chips from the fish shop."

But it's clear to Ms Jowett that poor nutrition is not the only cause of poor health in the community. "I'd suffered from depression before joining the project," she says. "And many of our customers are on low incomes and have housing and debt problems. Others are coping with drug habits or domestic violence. But there are few services to deal with those problems."

The project has helped to bridge this gap by teaming up with local sexual health advisory service, the Brunswick Centre. Social workers have given co-op volunteers training in basic counselling skills, offer telephone advice and also run a drop-in service at the shop every fortnight.

"We provide counselling on sexual health, including HIV, as well as child abuse," says Ms Jowett. "There's a problem with teenage prostitution in the area and we regularly see about 12 boys and girls aged between 13 and 16. The gay community also uses the co-op as a safe meeting place."

There is also a parent and toddler group, which will eventually become a day nursery. "There's a lack of affordable childcare in this area. We hope to break the cycle of violence for those parents stressed out with their kids because they have no support," adds Ms Jowett.

Rob Clegg, programme director of the North Halifax partnership, which set up the co-op with a government regeneration grant, says: "The co-op provides the local community with a more holistic approach to health - from healthy eating to counselling. As a viable business, it's also helping to regenerate the area, helping people develop skills and get into work."

Co-op volunteers have access to employment training provided by the Co-operative Wholesale Society, which fitted out the shop. "We have one 25-year-old single-mother who had never had a job before she came to work here," says Ms Jowett. "We've given her IT skills, till and stock control training, so she stands a much better chance of getting paid work. We also produce a work report for all volunteers to show prospective employers.

"Our aim is to get people out of their houses and involved in the community to improve the quality of life for everyone."