It’s been a busy few months at the pantry, so we thought it would be good to look back over everything that’s happened. Firstly, we’d like to thank everyone who’s contributed to the success of the pantry: our volunteers, visitors, local businesses and the Parish Council; we couldn’t run it without all these partners.
We’d like to thank the following for their incredibly generous donations at Christmas:
- Phoenix Flowers £180 from the ‘Pay what you can’ table
- Personal donations £65 and 2 x £48 Co-op Saving Stamps books
- Charlotte Batterham (Smiles on Faces CIC): £100
- James Peacock Bread Charity administered by the Ruddington Methodist Church: £250
- Proludic A large donation of non-perishables tins and staples and a further offer to go shopping for more items when needed.
We’ve passed some big milestones already in 2023. The Facebook group has passed 500 members, building a community who share money saving tips, recipes and information about the pantry. Next, we reached six tonnes of food saved from going to landfill and finally we marked 2,000 individual visits to the pantry.
We held our first AGM in February, welcoming Helen Robinson as a trustee to join the team of Carol Jaggers, Gwen Eyre and Lisa Broughton. From now on Carol will act as chair and Gwen as treasurer.
We had some VIP visitors in January to celebrate our funding from Reach Rushcliffe, which aims to reduce social isolation in Rushcliffe. It was a pleasure to show around Mayor Tina Combellack and Councillor Abby Brennan, Portfolio Holder for Communities and Climate Change.
Should anyone want to contribute to the running of the pantry, we now have a crowdfunding page at: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/the-ruddington-pantry.
And if you’re a Co-op member, you can generate funds for the pantry without costing you a penny, by choosing us as a Local Community Fund cause and swiping your blue Co-op card when you shop.
Our opening times are Wednesdays from 12.30pm to 1pm and Sundays from 4pm to 4.30pm.
Gwen Eyre