A Welsh primary school has launched a special shop where no food, drink, household or toiletry product has a price. Instead, parents, carers and members of the community can choose how much they want to pay for items in their shopping basket.
The innovative “Pay As You Feel Shop” has been set up at Ynysfach Primary School in Resolven, Neath to help support local families facing the cost of living crisis and to help reduce the amount of food that goes to waste.
The well-stocked shop, named by pupils as “Siop Y Ddrag Goch” (the red dragon’s shop) launched just before the May Half Term holiday on Friday, May 27, after months of planning and preparation and is believed to be the first of its kind in a school in Neath Port Talbot. For more Neath Port Talbot stories, go to this page of our website.
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"We had our grand opening of our Big Bocs Bwyd community pay-as-you-feel shop, Siop Y Ddrag Goch, on Friday, May 27,” acting headteacher Karen Thomas said. "The purpose of the shop is to reduce food poverty and food waste and give pupils a better understanding of sustainability. We believe we're the first school in Neath Port Talbot [to have a shop like this]."
Karen said she and colleagues saw a similar shop at a school elsewhere in the country last November and were struck by how much it was benefitting the local community there, both in terms of helping reduce food wastage and also helping to support local families. Inspired by the hard work and community feeling at the other school, Ms Thomas and members of staff wanted to see if they could introduce their own store to support parents of children at the school, and the wider Resolven community. You can get more Neath news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.
“We saw a shop working really well [elsewhere] and were interested straight away!” Ms Thomas added. “Parents told us they felt it would really benefit the community and so we applied to have one at Ynysfach last year. It’s been months in the making. Our application was approved in December and then we had to go about getting the items and the support - now we’re buying 100kg of food a week from Fair Share (a charity helping to reduce food waste and help alleviate food poverty in communities across the UK) and opening our shop three days a week.”
"The shop is a place for people to shop without feeling judged or embarrassed - it's there to support them while also helping pupils be sustainable and helping them reduce food waste, which is also covered in the National Curriculum," she added. "It's there to benefit families, we want people to feel comfortable, to come in and take what they need, and leave [a donation of] what they can."
The shop was formally opened by Jeremy Miles MS, Christina Rees MP – and former Swans forward Lee Trundle on Friday, May 27. In an article on the Swansea City AFC website, Lee spoke of how impressed he was with the school's shop and said: "It’s brilliant to see, especially in a close community like this. I’ve been speaking to people, and they’ve been telling me how the shop will help out, but especially with how things are these days with the price of everything going up. It’s great to see a shop where people can come in and pay what they can for the food.
"It helps the community, and it brings everyone together. It's a really great initiative, these sorts of things just bring communities together and you can see that everyone is enjoying themselves."
Karen and the team at Sip Y Ddrag Goch would like to thank Lee, Jeremy Miles MS and Christina Rees MP for attending the launch of the shop, as well as all the generous local businesses and kind-hearted members of the community who have donated items for the shop. Read here about the cafe offering free kids' meals every week night even if the parents don't buy anything.
"We’ve had loads of support. Steph, the community champion at Morrisons Neath, arranged for us to have non-perishables and the Co-Op in Glynneath have been very kind making donations to us," she said. "But we do need some more volunteers [to man the shop]. We want to be able to open in the school holidays as well as at certain times in the school day."
Currently, the shop is open three days a week at set times before and after the school day – but staff are hoping to extend the shop’s opening hours soon. "It’s run by staff volunteers and pupils. They love it! It’s here for people to fill their bags with whatever they need and give whatever they can." For the latest opening hours for the community shop, follow Ynysfach Primary School on Twitter here.
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