The Govan Pantry: 100 Tonnes and Counting
Update 28/05 — This piece was adapted for a feature in Glasgow Evening Times, which can be found at: https://www.glasgowtimes.co.uk/news/scottish-news/20097233.huge-demand-food-govan-pantry-celebrates-100-tonne-milestone/
As of March 2022, The Govan Pantry has distributed 100 tonnes of food and essential items. This is a massive milestone, and one we’re very proud of. The project has come a long way since its humble beginnings at the start of the pandemic, and we’d like to take a moment to reflect on the journey so far.
This is the story of The Govan Pantry.
We launched a food bank in April 2020, recognising that the families we support at Govan HELP are often at risk of food insecurity, and that the pandemic would make them worse off. Every week, during all levels of public health restrictions, we offered food parcels tailored to the needs of households, which could be collected from the Pearce Institute in Govan or be delivered to those families that were shielding.
By October 2020, we had provided 3889 food parcels and supported over 150 families. In this time, we also reevaluated our remit, Govan HELP’s services being exclusively dedicated to families with children under the age of 18. Now, anyone in need in the G51/52 postcode could access food support.
Food packages in the Pearce Institute, laid out for collection
During those first few months, it was obvious that food poverty was a huge problem in Govan. Many people were struggling to meet their basic costs for food and essential items, and demand for the food bank was out the door and round the corner. We needed a sustainable, more dignified means to tackle the problem of local food insecurity.
Our answer was The Govan Pantry — a subsidised community shop aimed at destigmatising the act of accessing food support. People would pay a weekly membership of £2.50 and be able to ‘purchase’ 10 items from the shop (or £5 for 20 items depending on need). Thus, households would be able to make significant savings on weekly shops, while having the freedom to choose the best products for them, all within a place of community that they could take pride in.
We got to work and secured a range of grants in order to pilot our idea, purchasing fridges, freezers and shelving to create the shop space within part of the Pearce Institute. We then adorned the shelves with food and other goods — courtesy of food charity FareShare — for people to select items as they would in any other shop.
The Pantry ready to welcome its first customers
The Govan Pantry proudly opened its doors in November 2020, and was immediately a hit. As of March 2022, we have distributed 100 tonnes of food and essential items, which roughly equates to 268,683 meal portions, a monetary value of £385,025, and CO2 savings of 96 cubic meters through cutting waste. Our members number almost 2000, and we see a regular weekly footfall of around 250 people.
Having identified a need within the community, we were fortunate to receive funding from the council to renovate the space in the Pearce Institute, so that accessing food support could remain a pleasant and enjoyable experience for our service users.
The renovated Pantry — what a transformation!
The Pantry’s success has also had some knock-on bonuses. Firstly, it provides a means for our partner organisations to engage with the community — we regularly host advisers who can help our service-users on issues of energy, money and debt. Secondly, the Pantry is staffed by a team of fantastic local volunteers, all of whom have completed our internal training program which includes certificated First Aid and REHIS Health and Safety training. Hence, volunteers benefit from new-found confidence, skills and ultimately improved employability prospects.
Volunteers receiving First Aid training
Today, the story of the Pantry is still being written; there’s lots of work left to do, with some big challenges on the horizon. We continue to register over 100 new members each month, and expect this to increase as the cost of living goes up. Our own running costs continue to creep, and there’s only so much food available to us via our friends at FareShare — we never want to open with empty shelves.
We’re confident that together, we can overcome these challenges and continue to deliver this vital service for Govan. The generous donations we’ve received through Govan HELP’s ongoing 25 for 25 campaign are helping us cover the costs of such things as additional food orders, volunteer expenses and staffing. Please consider donating if you haven’t already.
Thank you to everyone who has been part of the Pantry journey so far, and here’s to the next 100 tonnes!
HRH Prince Charles officially opened The Govan Pantry to coincide with Govan HELP’s 25th anniversary
