Community larder using surplus supermarket stock is opened by Waterlooville nursery group

Low-cost cupboard essentials are being made available to people in need at a community larder set up by childcare provider Growing Places, hoping to boost kindness in the area and help people who need it.

Growing Places, which has eight childcare settings in Waterlooville, Fareham and Havant, is working with Fareshare and Neighbourly to redistribute stock from supermarkets including Sainsburys, M&S, Tesco, Lidl and Aldi.

This helps to reduce the amount of food waste, while also giving a boost to the local community, something which the eco-conscious nursery is very proud of.

Jackie Warren, company director of Growing Places, said: ‘This has been set up to promote kindness within our community and help us all to help each other.

‘It has been so well supported and we are receiving lots of other donations as well now, so we are hoping to add more to the larder as the donations grow!’

There is a wide variety of products available at the store at Mill Hill Nursery in Mill Road, Waterlooville, which have been donated from shops across the area to help people in the community who need an extra boost.

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These items which people can collect and take home include essentials such as tea, coffee, biscuits, cereal, tinned goods, rice, pasta, jams and cooking sauces.

The community larder is open to everyone, and for a donation of £5 shoppers can help themselves to one large carrier bag or two regular bags. The current opening times are Thursdays from 6pm to 7pm and Saturdays between 10am and midday.

Colleague Emma Stock said: ‘The current pandemic has taught us all the true value of sticking together during adversity, and we hope that schemes such as this will really help bring our local community together during these difficult times.’

To learn more about how to benefit from the community larder, contact Jackie at Growing Places for further information on 07809 440773.

For more information about Growing Places visit growingplaces.org.uk or follow what they get up to on Facebook at facebook.com/growing.places.media

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