A NETWORK of 121 food pantries is offering greater than material sustenance, it reports.
Besides saving members £5.76 million prior to now yr, the pantries, a lot of them run by churches, provide places of community and well-being, it says.
The annual social-impact report (News, 21 July 2023) Places of Hope has been compiled by Your Local Pantry, a network of 121 pantries within the UK co-ordinated by the charity Church Action on Poverty.
More than 120,000 people in 44,000 households have turn into members of Your Local Pantry because the first pantry opened in Stockport in 2013. There are currently 13,000 members, who pay between £3.50 and £7 every week for ten grocery items of their selecting from their local pantry. Items are colour-coded to advertise a balanced food regimen. This selection enhances dignity and agency, the network says.
“Nobody here presumes anything,” one member reports. “Poverty doesn’t really come into it, which is good. You don’t feel like you’re taken in because you possibly can’t afford to feed your loved ones. . . If you go to a foodbank, you get what you’re given, and are thankful since you had nothing. Coming here, you possibly can select what you wish or like. It’s non-judgemental.”
The report records 270,000 visits prior to now 12 months. It highlights six pantries operating in several contexts: Kingston, Lowestoft, and Birmingham, Ebbw Vale, Leith, and Portadown.
“Many persons are coping with difficult social issues, but there’s an inherent, evergreen goodness in people coming together and doing life together, sharing food, skills, ideas, and company,” the report says. “Local pantries soften the blow of high living costs and create the conditions for people to grow and thrive.”
Several pantries are run by churches. Others are independent or in partnerships with housing associations, local authorities, and, more recently, schools: the primary is in Winson Green, in Birmingham. Most pantries are either a part of a registered chary or are charities in their very own right.
“Many have turn into the guts of the community. We have communities forming inside pantries; recent friendships, support, care and compassion on the weekly visits,” the report says. “We also hear of the role they play of their wider communities: linking up with other groups, introducing members to recent opportunities and support; responding quickly to requests from elsewhere; becoming hubs that connect and strengthen community relationships.”
Rachel Brown, a co-author of the report, says: “Charity can never be a long-term answer to food insecurity. We need a government-driven commitment to make sure everyone can access good food without having to show to others for help. But everyone also values community and the hope that such community provides, and Pantries are providing that in abundance.”
Members are estimated to save lots of about £21 every week on groceries.
The Rector of St Peter and St John, Kirkley, Lowestoft, the Revd Helen Chandler, describes its Kirkley pantry as “a form of hope story. We are here to get people out of poverty, and that’s the key difference between a foodbank and a pantry. The foodbank can get you food within the moment, but you possibly can’t go for long.”
She sees the pantry as an expression of church. “Unless our faith lands on the bottom with people in our community, it’s useless.”
Challenges to the initiative include sourcing enough stock (most comes from Fareshare and supermarket donations), ensuring financial stability, and recruiting and retaining volunteers. A pantry is estimated to want 19 volunteers alongside paid staff. Currently, 2000 volunteers dedicate 7000 hours every week to the initiative.
Your Local Pantry is supported by Church Action on Poverty, the Co-op, community groups, and charities.
