At The Village Hub, everyone can access our Community Food Larder – a place to access food that is surplus, meet new people, and access additional services & community support. It’s a way to save money, get a bargain, and enjoy fresh food.
We reduce food waste by sourcing good quality surplus food from FareShare, our local Co-op and other local food producers. We also receive one-off or seasonal donations from local churches, schools & groups (who organise collections of food that we can redistribute to local people in Stoke & Morice Town).
How our Food Larder works:
- Become a Member of The Village Hub (one-off payment of £1)
- Choose what you’d like, and pay just 20p per item (or take home fresh fruit, veg, and bakery goods for free / a small donation)
- The money you pay / donate goes back into our community – helping to make sure there’s always something on offer on our shelves!
What will I find at the Food Larder?
We get a random mix of store cupboard food (tins, pasta, flour, pot noodles, snacks, sauces etc) and fresh fruit, veg & baked goods every week – it’s a surprise every time!
We also get a selection of fresh dairy / dairy alternatives, ready meals, and fridge goods (stored in our Community Fridge).
How else can I get involved?
If you’d be interested in supporting our Food Larder staff, we often need help with:
- volunteering for regular food pickups
- donations of in-date store cupboard food (see our current Wishlist) or requested non-food items
- organising community food collections – your school, church, business or community group might like to do something nice by gathering food for us to redistribute through the Food Larder
Is The Village Hub’s Community Food Larder a Food Bank?
No – while food banks do an important and very necessary job helping to support people who are experiencing food poverty – we’re not one!
Anyone can access The Village Hub’s Community Food Larder – you don’t need to be refered, or be experiencing food poverty to come here.
Community larders are designed to support people to be more independent – “a hand up, not a handout”. We care about you as a person and community as a whole, and want to find sustainable long-term approaches to food insecurity and lack of choice in our local area.
If you do need to access a Food Bank, we can give you lots of information about where to find this support in Plymouth – just drop in!
What’s on our wishlist?
If you’re thinking about donating to The Village Hub’s Community Food Larder, here’s some requests we have from our regular visitors…
- Tinned food – eg tuna, tinned ham, tinned meat, baked beans.
- Jars of pasta sauces
- Tomato ketchup, mayonaise
- Tea, coffee, sugar
- Marmalde, jam (only shop bought – unforntunatley)
- Biscuits, chocolate
- Breakfast cereal
- UHT milk
- Laundry products – washing powder / liquid
- Toiletries – shower gel, shaving itmes, tooth paste
Please get in touch to find out the best time to drop off your donations!
Plymouth Food Aid Network
We’re a member of Plymouth Food Access Network – a collaboration of food support providers, local growers, distributers, retailers and organisations all seeking to end food insecurity across the City.
If you’d like to find other places in Plymouth where you can access free or low-cost food, check out Food Plymouth’s Food Access map.