A summary of points from our Community of Practice ton the 3rd of February attended by 28 colleagues will be uploaded shortly
Context:
This session was filmed 3 rd February 2025 and explored social supermarkets, pantries and pay as you feel community food models – and their sustainability – to address food insecurity. The session aimed to raise awareness of these models, showcase best practices, highlight opportunities for local adoption, and encourage collaboration among key partners.
Guest speakers include James Henderson from Your Local Pantry and Michelle Hayes from Resurrected Bites. The session was attended by 28 participants, including representatives from VCSE groups, North Yorkshire Council’s Public Health and Communities teams, FEAST/HAF (Holiday Activities and Food Programme), Anglo American (funder), and Community First Credit Union.
Description
In this session we hear from James Henderson from Your Local Pantry (YLP) who provides an overview of the YLP model:
“Across England, a network of community-run pantries, supported by Church Action on Poverty, provides affordable food through a membership model.”
How It Works
Pantries act as community hubs, offering wraparound support services, such as:
- Debt advice
- Housing and employment support
- Mental health and wellbeing services
They work alongside, rather than replace, food banks.
Membership models vary but generally:
- Members pay between £3.50 and £7 per visit.
- They can select a set number of items, including fresh produce, chilled/frozen food, and store cupboard staples.
- Some pantries offer family memberships for larger households.
| Benefits of model: | Challenges of model: |
| Reduced stigma: members shop like in a normal supermarket, choosing their own items rather than receiving pre-packed parcels. | Funding uncertainty: many funders are moving away from food insecurity initiatives, making long-term sustainability difficult. |
| Financial relief: on average, members save £21 per week (~£1,000 per year) which helps them afford other essentials like heating or travel costs. | Growing demand: food banks are overwhelmed, which increases the need for alternatives like YLP, but scaling up is challenging without consistent funding. |
| Many members find a sense of belonging and often go on to volunteer, strengthening community ties. | High running costs: pantries require funding for rent, food supply, refrigeration, and staffing. |
| Mobile pantries: a potential solution for rural areas, but they are expensive to sustain due to transport and staffing costs. |
Opportunities for North Yorkshire & York
- There are currently no ‘Your Local Pantries’ in North Yorkshire or York, but funding is available for early adopters!
- The Your Local Pantry team can provide support to organisations interested in setting up a pantry, including guidance, financial planning tools, and training. If you are interested at all please get in touch with Adele Wilson-Hope via email: adele.wilson-hope@northyorks.gov.uk
We also hear from Michelle Hayes from Resurrected Bites. Michelle discusses pay-as-you-feel cafés and their expansion into community groceries.
Michelle founded Resurrected Bites, an organisation that began running pay-as-you-feel cafés in Harrogate and Knaresborough to address food waste and food poverty.
During the pandemic, demand for food support grew rapidly, prompting Resurrected Bites to adapt its model—transitioning from food deliveries to membership-based community groceries that offer low-cost food alongside holistic support services.
Resurrected Bites operates on a membership model designed specifically for those experiencing food poverty. Groceries are available through both referral and self-referral, with members paying £5 per shop (or £10 for larger households) and receiving at least 10 times the value in groceries.
Beyond food, the community groceries also provide wider support services, including:
- Budgeting advice and financial guidance
- Job clubs and employment support
- Energy efficiency sessions
- Cooking classes (to encourage the use of fresh produce and teach practical skills)
| Challenges of the model | Learning |
| Funding pressures: The model relies heavily on grants and external funding, making long-term sustainability difficult. | The cafés successfully brought together people from diverse socio-economic backgrounds, but choosing the right locations is crucial. |
| Community engagement: While there is demand for affordable food, engaging families in cooking sessions and other support services has proven challenging. | Food poverty is often hidden, especially in affluent areas like Harrogate—raising awareness is essential. |
| Supply issues: Resurrected Bites intercepts 2.15 metric tonnes of surplus food per week from supermarkets, food manufacturers, and FareShare. However, food supply is unpredictable as many supermarkets and manufacturers are reducing waste at the source, resulting in less surplus food for redistribution. | Encouraging community ownership and volunteering helps build sustainability into the model. |
Looking ahead, Michelle plans to expand and is actively seeking new café and grocery locations within 10 miles of Harrogate to reach more communities in need.
Some key takeaways from session…
- Pantry & grocery models: are seen as potentially more sustainable alternatives to foodbanks, promoting self-sufficiency but it is evidently still very difficult for these models to be predictably sustainable; they can run at a loss and / or require a mix of income from trade and public sector grants in the short-term.
- Partnerships & funding: there is a need for collaboration between food providers, the Local Authority, and funders to support these existing models and the development of any new models in places where these is a desire to offer alternatives or additions to free food aid community provision.
- Opportunities in North Yorkshire and York: there is interest in expanding Your Local Pantry and Resurrected Bites models with support from local stakeholders.
- Community engagement: so far, there has been mixed success in engaging families, particularly when it comes to cooking classes and education around nutrition. There is perhaps further innovation needed.