The new Student Pantries at City and Riverside campuses have already allowed us to provide over 1,900 food items to our students and have been accessed over 1,070 times.
The Student Pantry at City Campus has made it possible for us to accept fresh and prepared food donations from across partners within the college, including Supported Education classes, City Market, Baxter Storey & cookery classes.
Having a fridge at the City pantry has allowed us to accept over 684 donated food items that were going to become food waste but instead were distributed amongst students. We now have a fridge for the Riverside pantry, which we hope to have stocked with donated items as soon as possible.
Just before the festive break, we trialled handing out festive packs that included at least six ready meals, a selection of snacks, and hygiene products. A total of 37 festive packs were handed out to support students facing holiday hunger over the festive period. Out of the 37, 24 were taken by Riverside students, the majority of whom were international students who weren't returning to a home environment over the break.
The Student Pantry is externally funded with support received from GCVS, Tesco Grants, and Commonweal. Special recognition to FES, who has supported the expansion of the pantry through the donation of new equipment, space resources, and staff labour. Without this support we would be unable to support as many students as we now reach.
Student Pantry opening times:
City Campus
Tuesday: 10:30am – 11:30am
Thursday: 4pm – 5pm
Riverside Campus
Thursday: 10am – 11am
Friday: 10am – 11am