Food pantries save £620,000 from shopping bills of 5,000+ members
More than £620,000 was saved from people’s shopping bills in a year thanks to 14 community food pantries set up with Network of Kindness support and funding.
More than 5,000 members are now signed up to do weekly shopping at the pantries, which provide surplus food at discounted prices in South Sefton, St Helens, Wigan and South Liverpool.
The pantries are run in partnership with St Leonards Youth & Community Centre, Halton & St Helens VCA (Voluntary and Community Action), South Liverpool Foodbank (Trussell Trust), and Wigan Deanery Trust. They enable shoppers reduce food bills, while also saving surplus food from going to landfill.
Pantries are open to everyone to join no matter what their work or life circumstances. Members pay a weekly fee of around £3.50 to receive around ten or more items including fresh produce, meat, fish, dairy, plant-based groceries and store cupboard staples.
Figures gathered from all 14 which received set up support or funding from the Network of Kindness in 2021 and 2022 show more than £620,000 was collectively saved from member’s weekly shopping bills, from April 1 2022 to March 31 this year. Three of these pantries were in Your Local Pantry’s most visited pantries in the country, in March.
Together Liverpool’s Social Action Lead Development Officer Joe Cottrell, said: “It’s incredible to see the impact the pantries have on people’s shopping budgets. At a time when the cost of living crisis is pushing more people into food insecurity, every penny counts now more than ever.
“We would like to see an end to food insecurity, and through the Network of Kindness we continue to support campaigns to tackle the root causes of poverty.
“In the meantime we are proud to have been able to facilitate this project connecting churches and charities with funding, equipment, and other organisations to grow social action in our communities.
“To have saved well over half a million pounds across the region is a testament to the hard work of our partners and their dedicated volunteers, who bit by bit are transforming our communities through kindness.”
The Network of Kindness Food Insecurity Project was delivered thanks to funding from Feeding Britain and the Albert Gubay Foundation, together with core funding for our staff team from the Joseph Rank Trust and National Lottery Communities Fund.
Set up in 2021 the project was launched by our former Food Insecurities Officer Naomi Maynard, now Director at Feeding Liverpool. Some of the pantries also received additional funding such as from the Torus Foundation, and several are part of the Your Local Pantry network.
Church volunteer Jean Moore, who co-ordinates a pantry at St Luke’s church in St Helens which has over 180 members, said: “The funding that we receive enabled us to buy a chiller cabinet, a freezer, storage shelving, and also enabled us to become part of the Your Local Pantry franchise.
“People come from lots of different backgrounds. They're telling us that it's a real godsend to them, because it's enabling them to put money towards other things like their fuel bills.
“When we were introduced to the idea of running a pantry here, it was an answer to prayer. We'd been praying for an opportunity to reach out to our local community, and this presented us with it.”
Many of the pantries have now become hubs for other social action projects and services, for example St Luke’s now also has a uniform exchange, second hand book stall, a Citizens Advice adviser available each week, and two volunteers trained up to refer people for fuel vouchers.
One regular member at St Luke’s, mum-of-two Liz, said: “I know that every Wednesday for £4, I can get a bag of food to keep my family going till the weekend, equating to the cost of £20. And so the pantry gives me peace of mind and also helps me top up that fridge for the weekend, and keep my family fed.
“As a nurse, the cost of living crisis is particularly pertinent to my house and my family. So, I would recommend that if you've got a food pantry near to you, anybody can use it, especially to help them with the current cost of living crisis.”
The pantries supported to set up thanks to the Network of Kindness Food Insecurities Project, either with direct funding or staff support are:
South Sefton - in partnership with St Leonards Youth & Community Centre:
- Caradoc Mission
- Linacre Mission
- St Leonards
South Liverpool – in partnership with South Liverpool Foodbank (Trussell Trust):
- St Aidan’s pantry, Speke
- Christ Church, Toxteth Park
- The Dingle Pantry at St Cleopas
- St Mary’s, Grassendale
St Helens – in partnership with Halton & St Helens Voluntary and Community Action:
- St Mark’s Haydock
- St Luke’s
- St Matthew’s
Wigan - in partnership with Wigan Deanery Trust:
- St Nathanial’s, Platt Bridge
- St Thomas, Ashton in Makerfield
- JEDS at St Stephen’s, Whelly
- Christ Church, Ince