13 May 2023
From a nondescript unit on an out-of-the-way St Albans industrial estate, a team of 70-plus volunteers work tirelessly to ensure residents facing extreme hardship can put food on their tables.
St Albans Community Pantry (SACP) is a community-led charity which operates as a hybrid of a food bank and food rescue.
It is entirely volunteer run and led, and provides food aid to 600 people every week from its base at the St Albans Enterprise Centre in Porters Wood, and hubs elsewhere across the district.
The organisation operates by collecting surplus food from supermarkets and local producers and then offering it out to those in need through a community fridge and bread pantry.
In addition, it provides boxes of predominantly fresh produce which are delivered by DBS-checked volunteers on a weekly basis to vulnerable individuals and families for as long as required.
We visited the charity’s base to speak to founder Raihaanah Ahmed, not only to help raise awareness of SACP’s remarkable achievements, but also to learn what more can be done to help them in their goal of closing the loop between food waste and food insecurity.
SACP volunteers collect donations from supermarkets seven days a week at different points during the day, picking up anything which hasn’t been discounted for sale or given to staff in order to help them during the ongoing cost of living crisis, a factor which has taken its toll on what the charity can source.
“It’s been so difficult this year,” Raihaanah admitted. “We’re 70 per cent down on donations for 2022/2023 compared to where we were in 2020.”
As well as these donations, SACP buys root vegetables and fruit at cost price from local suppliers, and collects surplus goods from the hospitality industry. But with everyone being careful during these hard times, this is only an intermittent resource.
From Mondays to Thursdays between 9.30-11am, and again on Sundays from 9.30-10.30am, queues of between 40-70 people snake around the block outside the centre in order to pick up produce from the Community Fridge, including milk, salad, bread, and anything else with a use-by-date of that day.
But because this service cannot be reached by all its users, SACP runs an outreach hub at Cottonmill Community and Cycling Centre on Mondays between 12 noon and 2pm, where they also offer school uniforms, winter clothes and free haircuts once a month. A new hub will be opening in Wheathampstead on June 2.
So what prompted Raihaanah and her husband Al to establish this invaluable resource in the centre of apparently affluent St Albans?
The story dates back to when she was pregnant with her first child, and suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum, which causes severe vomiting from week 5 all the way through to labour. Unable to work, their situation was compounded when her husband was made redundant from his job in pharmaceutical sales after more than a decade, and found himself over-qualified when it came to seeking a replacement position.
Although their parents eventually stepped into help, the couple went through a period where they found themselves struggling to put food on the table, and vowed to do something to help others in this situation once they got back on their feet.
“Being candid, it really affected me. There are loads of people who are not eligible for support from the likes of [foodbanks] Trussell, the Vineyard etc, and during the first lockdown we put feelers out to see how we could help.
“We were overwhelmed by the response, and initially operated from our home before moving to the Abbey Theatre, which was closed at the time. Even so we thought it would only be a temporary problem.
“One of our first cases was a cleaner who had always been paid cash in hand. She lost her job during the pandemic and because she had no family to help her out ended up eating cat food. She told us she had not eaten fresh food for 18 months.
“After raising £7,000 we were able to feed more than 1,000 over that first lockdown Christmas.”
As Covid restrictions eased, the demands on St Albans Community Pantry did not. It began receiving referrals from midwives, pharmacies, GPs, churches, schools, residents’ associations, Citizens Advice and local councillors, as well as working with the likes of Druglink, St Albans and Hertsmere Women’s Refuge, and St Albans Action for Homeless.
So what differs SACP from the foodbanks operating across the district and beyond?
“Here there are hidden pockets of poverty, and it’s much harder for people to raise their hands and ask for help.
“At foodbanks there are lots of questions to answer and it isn’t dignified; embarrassment is a recurring theme. We wanted to provide an alternative whereby people had more control and weren’t at the mercy of others.
“SACP is anonymous as far as possible, there are no criteria or forms and we don’t operate a voucher scheme. It’s a brave step to take to say that you need help with food, and we want to make the process as easy as possible.”
But doesn’t that open up the system to abuse?
“In the last three years, after having seen thousands of people walk through our doors, only about five have taken advantage.
“For most people it’s a courageous thing to do.”Poverty creates isolation you know, you can’t invite someone in for a cup of tea or coffee if you don’t have any milk.”
The scheme was originally much more impersonal, with deliveries dropped off on people’s doorsteps, but as the volunteers built up a rapport with service users, they soon discovered that for most, fruit and vegetables were not seen as a priority, so the focus moved away from non-perishable goods to fresh produce.
This will include culturally appropriate food items for ethnically diverse communities, recognising that a one-size fits-all approach is not suitable in an area like St Albans.
A surprising and welcome addition to food deliveries is often a bouquet of flowers donated by a supermarket, boosting morale and going a long way towards lifting users’ moods.
As well as the difficulties caused by the dip in donations, the Community Pantry still needs more volunteers to spread the burden on the existing core group, and has to raise funds to pay £850 rent and £300 for utilities every month.
“We’re not supported in any way,” Raihaanah revealed, as we part company. Her humble nature belies the importance of what she and Al have set up here, and the gratitude which so many people must feel for their efforts.
Although the charity applies for grants when appropriate, it relies largely on fundraising to continue its work. Find out more about what you can do to support SACP through its website at stalbanscommunitypantry.org
