A NEW community shop is set to open in one of Leicester’s most deprived areas, providing deeply discounted surplus food to those who are on the cusp of food poverty.
The new Community Shop is set to open in New Stocking Farm in April, providing around 750 members from the local community with access to high-quality deeply discounted surplus food and household products.
The new store will open at the former youth centre on Marwood Road, and will be free to people who live locally, receive welfare support and are “motivated to make a positive change to their lives.”
As part of the redevelopment, the new Community Shop will also provide a multi-purpose community space for local people and organisations to hire and use.
“We’re delighted to be bringing Community Shop to the Stocking Farm area of Leicester,” said Natalie Brown, head of Community Shop, an award-winning social enterprise, which currently operates eight social supermarkets across England.
“We know from our other eight stores across the UK that the support Community Shop provides makes a tremendous difference to the lives of local people and are excited to see the long-lasting impact this store will have on the community come April.”
The new store has been made possible thanks to the support of Leicester City Council, Ocado and Samworth Brothers, who have provided significant stock for the new store.
All items sold in Community Shop are perfectly good to eat or use and have been mostly donated by major retailers and manufacturers after being deemed as “surplus” for reasons such as incorrect or wonky labelling, seasonal packaging or overstock. These products otherwise may have gone to waste.
The store will create around eight new jobs for the local area, with the new Community Shop team working closely with the city council and other local community groups.
“I am really pleased that we have been able to work with Community Shop to help bring their first store to Leicester,” said City Mayor Peter Soulsby.
“By breathing new life into a long-underused building, it will provide a valuable new facility for people of all ages in Stocking Farm and be of huge benefit to the local community. This is just one important part of the exciting plans being developed for the future regeneration of Stocking Farm.”
To find out more about the project, visit: https://www.companyshopgroup.co.uk/
