and build relationships.”

“We have some students who speak English but when you give them the phone to speak with somebody, they just freeze; they can’t move forward.

“They say it’s a matter of being able to rely on their own skills and feel confident, and therefore they increase their levels of English and communication skills. By being able to know how to do things, practical stuff, then they become themselves – they don’t need to ask anybody else; they feel confident enough themselves to call the city council to solve a problem, or call the school and solve a problem. We know this is happening when they’re not calling us any more, because they are getting more confident.

“It’s slow steps. First, people have to feel the power to make change for themselves on a very small scale. Then it’s obviously being part of a community or volunteering or feeling they’re powerful, then it’s having their own community.

“An idea of Migrant Support is to help people be aware that with any decisions that could be taken in the community, they have the power actually to raise their voice and the power to join other groups – not only or always with Migrant Support; they could join their own communities. If there’s an issue that matters to them, they could be able to talk about it.

“Again, we go back to confidence … if they feel able to talk about issues that matter to them and they have the power to do it, they will. For instance, Self-Reliant Groups help them save money and then they think they could cook, or sell the products and get a little more income for themselves. The idea is that small changes can make a big change. That could be individually but also collectively, when voices are heard stronger and louder.”

North End Pantry: “We want to reach people in the area and build relationships.”

Local Pantries are providing an answer to a long-lasting question: How do we safeguard food access for all, without compromising on dignity?

Churches, charities and community groups have wrestled with that question for more than a decade, and North End Baptist Church in Portsmouth was no different.

The North End food bank had supported around 10,000 people in the

five years up to 2020, and when the pandemic struck, the level of local need soared.

Covid changed the way the team worked, but it also prompted some reflection. Was this the right approach, or was there a better way?

Food banks can be vital responses in a crisis. But organisations seeking to nurture community need to prioritise dignity, choice and hope. The rapidly expanding Your Local Pantry network, coordinated by Church Action on Poverty, helps partners do that in more than 60 neighbourhoods around the UK, in community centres, libraries and above all churches, where two thirds of Pantries are based.

Jo Green, one of the Pantry managers at North End, says: “We spoke to schools and other organisations. They were telling us they had families who needed help but who would not go to a food bank because of the stigma. It made us wonder what we could do. Our minister, Tracey, knew someone who ran a Pantry and we looked at a couple, and decided that becoming a Pantry was the way forward.

“We closed our food bank at the start of April 2021, and three weeks later we opened as a Pantry. The stigma has certainly reduced. We have a lot of families now and we are finding that people really value it more because they are paying towards it.”

The Pantry model is simple. Anyone who lives in a neighbourhood served by one can join. Members pay a small weekly subscription of a few pounds, and in return they can choose around £20 to £25 a week of groceries from the stock on the shelves. It’s a shop in all but name, but members can save the best part of £1,000 a year compared to supermarket prices.

The first Pantries opened in Stockport several years ago, and Church Action on Poverty saw the potential for them to be rolled out nationally. The charity now runs the Your Local Pantry franchise network, which ensures all Pantries adhere to the same standards and values of dignity, choice and hope.

Pantries are inclusive and foster relationships. People may join for the financial savings, to help reduce food waste, to support a local initiative or for the friendship, and nobody need know which it is.

A recent study of Pantries nationally found the benefits are vast. Three quarters of members reported improved mental health, and nearly as many