Our new initiative, the St Giles Pantry in south Kensington, aims to tackle food poverty by giving vulnerable residents access to groceries for a nominal fee.
The food is surplus from supermarkets – it’s good quality and within its sell-by-date, and is collected and distributed by FareShare, a charity committed to tackling hunger and food waste.
The pantry launched on Wednesday 11 September at Southern Housing Group’s Ixworth Place estate. The event was attended by local councillors, and chef, food writer and recipe developer Dominique Wood who demonstrated a recipe for the residents.
The food pantry has already started serving some of the local residents with a subscription of only £3.50 a week it makes fresh, tasty ingredients affordable for everyone.
Our head of community investment, John Gleeson said: ‘The pantry is a fantastic way of helping our residents access affordable food. It’s given me a lot of inspiration for future projects’
The St Giles Pantry was created when we led a partnership with the Guinness Partnership and Clarion Futures, with support to the value of £15,000 coming from Wates Living Space, one of Southern Housing Group’s repairs contractors. Wates helped transform a disused storeroom into a fully equipped pantry with an outside garden where residents can relax.