A community café which has seen more people reaching out for support has created food pantry boxes to help the community.
Staff at the Queens Walk Community Café are coming up with ways to support people in the community and they have noticed there is more of a need and a demand for support as the cost of living crisis continues to rise.
Café owner Loretta Kelly created £5 pantry boxes for those in need. Full of a variety of foods, the pantry boxes are to help people create two to three different meals and save money.
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Ms Kelly said: “We post it and it’s here for everyone, not just for people of The Meadows - anyone that can get to us.”
In the summer the community cafe used to have a box of food donations outside, however since then the operation has grown with an increased demand from those who are struggling.
Ms Kelly continued: “It’s expanded now. We have started to notice that there is more of a need and a demand. I can only see the need for support increasing, I can’t see it going. I’ve seen a lot of people coming in just to sit down, that’s where it is like a warm hub in a sense. We have a few people coming in in The Meadows, obviously we get a lot of people coming into the centre.”
The cafe also provided people with £10 Christmas boxes over the festive period. The box provided Christmas food staples for families trying to budget.
Tina Padden, a social prescribing worker in The Meadows, hosts a community coffee morning in The Meadows and regularly visits Queens Walk Community Café.
She said: “We use the community cafe, we have a coffee morning at the Salvation Army, a warm hub 10-12. The community cafe offers cultural food, we come here on our break for the food. We get people referred from the doctors' surgeries. We have our coffee morning regulars, we have people pop in saying they can’t afford to heat up their home.
“The pop up pantry shares information. It’s very sad, it’s hard. I don’t know, you would have never thought you would see anything like this in England 2022. Mental health, heating, food vouchers for food banks.”
One person, who bought a pantry box and wanted to remain anonymous, said: “I’m benefiting because I can feed my family. To be honest I haven’t been struggling, I'm just taking the opportunity to promote the fact they are available - it’s just here.”
Volunteer Charlene Chambers, 36, said: “We get the delivery come through on a Tuesday, we see what is in it, see what they’ve got. We try to cater for everyone, for vegans, meat eaters.
“It’s not a shameful thing to buy from the pantry. It’s better for your money and better value. People are struggling and we have our doors open, we are open at 12.”
The community cafe also has food parcels and a donation table, for those who are struggling.
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