Daventry academy opens community food pantry

Food for Thought Daventry and The Parker E-Act Academy will be opening a community food larder based at the school from Tuesday, December 13.

The scheme operates through a membership programme that provides access to donated and surplus groceries at heavily discounted rates.

There is an Annual Joining Fee of £10 per membership, with suggested donations as follows:

After payment of the Annual Joining Fee· Up to 10 items each week for £17.50 for a calendar month· Up to 22 items each week for £35 per calendar month

Pay as you go· Up to 10 items per session for £5· Up to 22 items per session for £10

All memberships include fruit and vegetables in addition to purchased items.

Miranda Wixon from Food for Thought Daventry said: “Together with the Hope Centre we opened our current Community larder at Southbrook at the start of the summer holidays.

“It’s significant popularity has highlighted the need to increase opening times. From this week the Daventry Community Larder at Southbrook will now open at 1.30pm and 6pm on Wednesdays and in addition this incredible offer of help from The Parker means Parker Pantry will now open at 4.30pm every Tuesday from mid-December.

“Having worked with the Parker during the pandemic we know that together we can increase opportunities for young people and their families, starting with affordable food. We are also grateful for the continued support of Cummins who are specifically providing us with specialised storage facilities to be installed at the school.”

Parker head teacher Andrea White was equally positive about the scheme.

She said: “We are all aware of the difficulties being faced, so I am delighted we can offer our facilities for such a good cause. We are making it a complete community programme throughout the school.

“Our year 12s will staff the entire operation along with a number of other students interested in public work. In addition, two staff members in our Design and Technology Department – Alice Goodman and Ashley King – have produced a wonderful logo that will go on the hoodies that our students will wear.”

The Parker Pantry will be available between 4.30pm and 6pm every Tuesday from December 13. It will open every Tuesday until further notice apart from December 27.