This year our Pantry made the move to Gate 55, allowing us to stock and sell more items to our pantry members, more often. As our members open the main door to Gate 55, they are directed to the Pantry welcoming area where they are met by one of our team, a seat and a cuppa whilst they wait. As well as accessing advice and support from guest organisations.
Entering the Pantry shopping area, there are now freshly stocked shelves, tables, fridges and freezers with plenty of space for shoppers to move around freely as they choose their items. Thanks to the additional resources at Gate 55, our members will now be able to enjoy our upcoming pantry cooking workshops, where they can learn how to turn their pantry shopping in to tasty, nutritious meals in the same place they do their shopping.
The benefits of working closely with Gate 55 goes beyond bricks and mortar. It has meant friendship, community and collaboration, providing a one stop shop where local people can access a range of activities, support and advice in one place. When Gate 55 contacted us to tell us they wanted to donate £200 to support our Pantry, we were overwhelmed by their kindness and commitment to see The Pantry thrive.
Gate 55’s Sophie on supporting The Pantry
“The Sunflower Pantry provides an amazing service for our communities. Lots of people in our area experience food poverty and the Pantry helps with extremely low-cost groceries – and free fruit and vegetables – whilst maintaining choice and dignity. As the Pantry gets established in its new home here at Gate 55 it needs to build stock, so we decided to make a donation to support its work.
People already know they can come to Gate 55 for advice on benefits and debt, through the services provided here by CHAI, as well as helping themselves to the free clothing we make available on the rails and tables. They can also come to Sighthill Library here to borrow books or make use of the children’s games. The Sunflower Pantry is really crucial in also providing support with the cost of living by hugely reducing people’s food bills. We hope all these things together can help people to get by.”
The Health Agency’s Tasting Change Lead, Stacey on the impact the support from Gate 55 has had:
“Moving to Gate 55 has been such a positive step for Sunflower Pantry Wester Hailes. Having a bigger space means we can stock more food, offer additional opening hours and give our members a more welcoming shopping experience, with plenty of room to move around and choose the items that work best for them.
The partnership has also brought us closer to other services and organisations, creating more opportunities for our members to access support, advice and activities in one place. Our upcoming cooking workshops in October will build on this, helping members make the most of their pantry shopping, learn new skills and meet new pals.
We’re incredibly grateful to Gate 55 for their generous £200 donation. This will help us build our stock and it’s a perfect example of what can happen when local organisations work together to support their community.”
The Pantry runs on Tuesdays between 9am–12.30pm and 5pm–6.30pm at Gate 55, 55 Sighthill Road, Edinburgh, EH11 4PB
To find out more, visit: https://thehealthagency.org.uk/tasting-change-service/
To register for The Pantry, complete the referral form on our website or call Stacey on 07727 151 206 to chat through the process.