Sainsbury's St Helens Millfields Local

Compassion Acts supports adults and children facing hardship by providing emergency food through Southport Foodbank, in line with The Trussell guidelines. Alongside this, we run Food Pantries, a Community Market and offer benefits advice, including advocacy and support at benefit tribunals. Our projects are delivered across the North Sefton area. While the Foodbank provides vital emergency assistance for people in crisis, its support is designed to be short term. Many families and individuals continue to struggle once the immediate crisis has passed. Our Food Pantry helps bridge that gap by offering members the opportunity to shop for around £30 worth of groceries each week for just £5, choosing the items that best suit their household. Val turned to Compassion Acts after facing a long wait for her benefits. Referred first to the Foodbank and then to the Food Pantry, she found more than just practical support. "I was full of panic and anxiety, wondering how I was going to cope if I ended up on the street. The volunteers at the Food Pantry were lovely. It gave me back my confidence and self-esteem. Without going there and meeting people, who knows what could have happened?"

Our community pantry helps local people access affordable food while reducing food waste by redistributing surplus food intercepted from a variety of sources. We are passionate about rescuing good food that would otherwise be discarded and ensuring it benefits people within our community instead. The pantry operates on a low-cost membership basis, with a £5 annual membership fee and £3 per shop (maximum of two shops per week). Members can choose from a wide range of food, helping families and individuals stretch their budgets while maintaining dignity and choice. As well as supporting people with food, we aim to create a welcoming and inclusive community space. Last year, we refurbished and extended our building to better serve local people and recently opened a weekly Pay-As-You-Feel Café. The café is already proving to be a popular and valued space where people can enjoy affordable meals, meet others, and access support in a warm and friendly environment. Everything we do is volunteer-led and rooted in community, sustainability, and supporting local people through challenging times.

St Helens Borough Mobile Community Food Pantry believes everyone should have access to affordable and nutritious food by bridging the gaps between community food provisions. The St Helens Borough Mobile Community Food Pantry bridges the gaps between the community food provisions across the St Helens Borough. We are a joint faith and voluntary group initiative working alongside members of the St Helens Borough Community Food Providers Alliance, this two year dream is now a reality and is accessible for those who need it. The Mobile Pantry is a member of the Your Local Pantry network and operates as an affordable food club where membership is free and members only pay a fee each time they visit with only one weekly visit permitted. The majority of the food we offer comes from surplus from shops and businesses which would otherwise have gone to landfill. Typically the mobile community food pantry reach supports a total household size of over 3000 of the borough's residents. With over 1000 members, we are the only food pantry in the borough that is accessible four days a week. We operate in the heart of some of the borough's most deprived communities. We are in Newton-le-Willows on a Monday morning when we visit the Cross Lane United Church and hold a pantry session there 10:30 am until 12 noon. On Tuesday mornings we are in Sutton village, we visit the Sutton Family Hub on Ellamsbridge Road and hold a pantry session there 10:30 am until 12 noon. On Thursday mornings we are in Moss Bank when we visit Park Farm Community Centre on Kentmere Avenue and hold a pantry session there 10:30 am until 12 noon. On Friday mornings we are at Peasley Cross when we visit the United Reformed Church on Beaufort Street and hold a pantry session there 8:45 am until 10:15 am. Besides delivering the food pantry sessions at the above locations the St Helens Borough Mobile Community Food Pantry works with St Helens Rugby League Club and the local foodbanks collecting food outside St Helens Rugby League's Totally Wicked stadium which gets donated to the local foodbank network. Similarly we have worked with the St Helens Town Football club and the Steve Prescott Foundation doing similar collections outside the football match and at the St Helens Gala. The St Helens Borough Mobile Community Food Pantry is a joint partnership project with the operational accountability and legal status being provided by Halton & St Helens Voluntary and Community Action registered in England & Wales as a Registered Charity No. 1106001 and a Company Limited by Guarantee No. 2539153. Registered Office: St Maries, Lugsdale Road, Widnes, WA8 6DB.