PANTRIES AND FOOD CLUBS Meanwhile, food clubs and pantries are popping up all over the UK. Food Clubs are normally found in children’s centres. We will typically pay an annual £1 membership fee and weekly payments of £3.50 which gets us approximately £15-£20 worth of food. Members will have access to a support network and cookery lessons. Pantries are located in churches and community centres. They work on a local membership model too. We pay a couple of quid per visit and are entitled to a basket of groceries worth up to five times more. Pantries work in partnership with the charity FareShare and local wholesalers, who provide surplus food and other items.
In South Kensington, London’s wealthiest borough, people are struggling to buy good quality food. “Need in South Ken is very hidden,” says Alice Webster, community investment manager at Southern Housing Group, and the driving force behind the Ixworth food pantry. Ixworth Place estate is one of the largest in the borough, with
over 250 homes. A dilapidated storage room on the estate was turned into a pantry. The pantry is open three days a week and has over 100 members. Food is labelled in a traffic light system (red, amber, green), relating to availability and stock. The quality and variety of food is what makes the pantry so special. One week there was a
surplus of sirloin steaks, another week it was pumpkins. The pantry has connected neighbours, “This type of model tackles the issue of self-isolation and that is so important in today’s world,” says Alice. ¬ To find your nearest local pantry, check on the map here www. yourlocalpantry.co.uk/find-apantry/?page=2
CITIZENS SUPERMARKETS Citizens’ Supermarkets are large facilities which have a community cafe and advice hub. Some have cookery and IT classes on-site, as well as second hand furniture shops. Usually we are referred by our housing provider, agency or we can self refer. Some supermarkets have a pay-per-item system at the checkout while others ask for a flat fee in return for a range of items. Food is heavily discounted, using surplus stocks from retailers and manufacturers.
28 | Quids in!
You can find citizens supermarkets in Birkenhead, Coventry and Bradford. There are plans for new openings in Glasgow, Norwich, and Sheffield too. In some parts of the UK there are ‘mobile’ citizens’ supermarkets – that's a double decker bus kitted out with a shopping area, advice booth and cafe.
