Sunshine Centre gets £5,000 grant to support Food Pantry

A scheme that provided food parcels during lockdown has evolved into a full time lifeline

A scheme to share food with the local community is going from strength to strength.   Now thanks to a £5,000 grant the Community Pantry at the Sunshine Centre on Edmunds Road is set to grow again.

Launched just a few weeks ago, the Community Pantry takes food and consumables which are no longer required by the supermarkets and makes it available to the local community at no charge.   The idea was a natural progression from the help that had been made available during lockdown.

Jill Edge, Centre Manager at the Sunshine Centre, said, “We have developed a Community Food Pantry in response to a continuing need in the community following the stopping of the food parcels. We are extremely grateful to the support we have received to stock the food pantry”.

Lucy, a mum of three young children, was one of the people that received food parcels during lockdown.   She said, “We like to eat healthily.  This has given us the opportunity to try different foods that we might not have tried before.    It’s helped me get a bit more creative with cooking and the children have loved being involved to”.

Now a grant of £5,000 from DEFR via Cherwell District Council will give the project another boost.   The money will be used to purchase a glass fronted fridge so that chilled items can be made easily available.   The cash will also enable the printing of local recipes and allow for some cooking sessions.

Access to the Food Pantry is available Monday to Friday between 9am and 5pm. The food and soon to arrive fridge can be found in the entrance to the Sunshine Centre.   Jill said, “People can help themselves. For those people who like to give a donation there is also a donation pot out.

“We ask that people are respectful and considerate to others. We ask for a mask to be worn and to use the hand sanitizer provided”.

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Published: 06/10/2020 06:00am by Banbury FM Newsteam

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