We are a community led grassroots organisation, run entirely by
residents on a voluntary basis, dealing with the two issues of food
poverty and food waste. We are a group of six residents from the
Lache community who came together in 2018 because we wanted
to make changes in our neighbourhood. Our main focus is a social supermarket ‘the Larder’ where we redistribute surplus food, donated by supermarkets such as Waitrose, Tesco, Morrisons and Aldi, on a pay as you feel basis. We have been running affordable food sessions, starting in 2019 once a week in our community centre and progressing to twice a week in our own premises. We have refurbished a local shop in Lache where we are now able to open on our own schedule. So far we have been following Covid-19 guidelines, ensuring social distancing and limiting customers, but eventually the shop will also provide a social space, serve tea and toast, signpost to other organisations etc in the hope that this will prevent social isolation and provide a means of early intervention. The Larder is open to all but attracts mainly people that live on the Lache estate in Chester. Everyone who visits says that they benefit from the affordable, accessible, fresh, healthy produce on offer as well as feeling a sense of pride that such a project exists in their community, run by their friends and neighbours.