We are proud to announce the opening of our fantastic ‘Places Called Home’ comfortable
room, incorporating our brand New Food Pantry, which is available to all our community.
There are no restrictions on benefits or any earnings, if you want to pop along you are more
than welcome. The pantry is currently open Wednesday’s from 10am-1pm.
What is it
We know it’s a challenging time for everyone at the moment and that sometimes the essentials in life,
like food, can take a back seat when you’re struggling financially.
We launched our Food Pantry to help tackle this and wanted a way to remove any barriers, as result our
pantry has no restrictions to whom can utilise it. There is no means testing required and as long as you
are able to travel to it you are able to access this service if you need to.
We have built our Food Pantry around our Welcome Wednesday sessions to provide a full host of advice
surgeries as well as the pantry. Where we have regular attendances from organisations whom can provide,
energy advice, benefits advice, mental health support plus much more.
With the help of Funding received from the National Lottery and IKEA, we have been able to create a
wonderful welcoming room, with comfortable seating available. This will allow people to meet like
minded individuals and to have informal conversations with other community members or even
organisations around support.
We do not form part of a Food Bank network or a larger entity, we are a standalone registered community
based charity, providing services to aid our communities.
So it is not just a place to get essential food but to get full support to help with the current cost of living
crisis that we all face.
How it works
We have volunteers available to assist you through the process but the process is simple, you may take up
to 8 individual items for a minimum donation of £2.00 to cover the costs, this donation will allow us to
continue restocking the produce going forward.
Opening Hours - The pantry is currently open every Wednesday between 10am and 1pm
Community Food Table
On top of the food pantry we offer our community food table, which is completely free. Many items on
this are received from local supermarkets that are past the BBE date, or is the surplus stock that we would
be unable to utilise elsewhere. Items will include Bread, Vegetables, salads, etc. This is located in our
reception area and is accessible during our building opening hours 9am-3pm Monday-Friday.
How you can help
Food Donations - We are always looking for donations, so if any community members or local businesses
would like to donate food to the pantry please let us know.
Financial Donations – If you can contribute financially to the project we would put 100% of your donation
back into the repurchase of food goods. There are multiply donation pots available through the building, if
you would like to make a larger donation please find a member of the team to assist you.
Pay if forward – Whilst our £2 donation seems low, we do work with families where even this is struggle
some weeks, which is a true reflection on the current crises we live within. If you would like to pay it
forward so the next struggling family are covered we would be more than grateful for your donations.
Volunteering - Whilst we do have a great team of committed volunteers, we are always thankful for any
support that can be offered, if you have spare time and want to help us please get in touch, on
01443 475120.
FAQ
Is this a Food Bank? It is not a registered Food Bank but a Food Pantry. It is a totally not for profit venture.
What is the difference between a Food Bank and Food Pantry? Our Food Pantry is a weekly support network
through a free membership scheme that provides a longer term option to that of a food bank, which are only
able to provide short term, occasional support to families suffering from food poverty. Our food pantry can
also supply, refrigerated and fresh food items that a short-term food bank would be to provide, goods like
fruit and fresh vegetables.
Why is there a minimum donation? Our Food Pantry is run not for profit and many of the goods are
purchased at usual cost price, we then subsidise the costs with funds or utilising foods sourced at reduced
rates. So at present we pay for around 95% of the goods we utilise in the food pantry and do not rely on
Food Donations as a Food Bank does.
Don’t you have funding for this project? Yes we do have funding, which is part of the reason we are able to
massively subsidise the costs of the food, but it is not 100% funded and a condition of our funder is for us to
match fund an element towards it, which is where the minimum donation contributes back to it to make it
more sustainable.
Why can’t I have more than 8 items? Due to the ever increasing cost of living, we have to put a maximum
quantity per person, to ensure that as many people that need to access the service can. The pantry is not
here to replace a regular weekly shop, but to aid your bills and provide essentials
Where does the food come from? We get stock from various organisations, including supermarkets, all of
which we pay for. We do accept and receive occasional food donations from groups or local people and we
do welcome these.
Why do you have items past their BBE date? Some of the food we stock may very well be past it’s BBE date printed on the item. We always ensure that this food it still fit for consumption before shelving and will clearly mark the extended shelf date as per the Manufacturers guidance.
Why can’t you open all week? Due to the demand in food, we would be unable to maintain stock levels to sufficiently open all week, which is why we only currently offer a 1 day a week service
Do you provide Emergency Aid? Yes, we will always do our best to ensure that people are not left hungry, we may ask for additional information to ensure you qualify for this service.
For more information please contact us on 01443 475120.
