Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Community larder opens in Ellon: ‘Take what you need and give what you can’

New Ellon Community Larder
A new community larder has opened at Ellon Parish Church. Picture by Paul Glendell/DC Thomson.

An Aberdeenshire kirk is launching a brand new community larder where everybody is welcome and to help people make their money stretch further.

Ellon Kirk Centre received £4,000 funding by Hubbub through the Co-op to buy a new community fridge and freezer.

Today, the new community larder and community cafe will officially open after months of hard work.

With the funding, the team was able to buy a freezer with a glass door – meaning people can see the options without opening the door.

Nicola Bruce, mission development worker for the church, explained the freezer door being made of glass not only helps with regulating the temperature but also removes an extra barrier for people.

Picture by Paul Glendell/DC Thomson.

The church has been collecting surplus food from the likes of the Co-op and Tesco for a while, and throughout the pandemic, this food was used to bulk out emergency food parcels.

When lockdown hit, the need for the food parcels skyrocketed and soon the team realised they needed to start providing ongoing support to the community.

‘Only works if everyone uses it’

They decided a community larder would be the best way to help people access free food while making their money stretch further.

Anyone is welcome to visit the pantry, and there is no need for referrals.

“The beauty of a community larder is that it’s open to anyone,” Mrs Bruce explained. “And it only really works if everyone uses it.

“The idea is you can take what you need, give what you can so you can be a part of supporting others and you can have a hand yourself.

“Because they might be coming in to reduce food waste, they might be coming in to support others, or to lend a hand – nobody knows why anybody’s there and nobody needs to.

Picture by Paul Glendell/DC Thomson.

“The idea is if you need help then you can come and get help without the shame that can come with it.

“By coming to choose their own things were aiming to increase dignity and just let people have a lovely experience of shopping for food like everyone else.”

The kirk centre is developing a membership scheme for the larder using a shopping bag.

After using local connections and running an art competition, they have larder bags and kid’s bags printed sustainably and ethically.

The membership of £5 for an individual or £10 for a household for the year, with pay it forward and gift memberships available.

Reducing waste while strengthening community

The popular Kirk Centre Coffee Shop closed during the pandemic and never reopened.

A new cafe that operates on a pay-as-you-feel basis has now opened, meaning people are not becoming isolated because they can’t afford to meet friends for coffee.

People can just make a donation at the station where no one is looking.

Pictured are volunteers and staff who run the cafe and shop. Picture by Paul Glendell/DC Thomson.

Surplus food is also used in the community cafe which means the offerings will always be something fresh and different.

If the team receives a surplus of bananas then the cafe will make a banana loaf, or if they get surplus lemons they can make a drizzle cake.

On Thursdays, the team will serve soup and surplus bread as their specials, and on Saturdays they will serve bacon rolls.

Mrs Bruce said: “We’re trying to reduce waste as much as possible, which reduces our cost as well.

“The team has to get pretty creative about what they can make or bake dependent on what resources we have, but it’s been an exciting journey and they are really creative people who are doing amazing things with fruit and veg and various ingredients – it’s been fun to see.”

Picture by Paul Glendell/DC Thomson.

The kirk has also opened up a play area and spaces to meet and rent as well as a community shop.

Mrs Bruce pointed out that it is becoming “fashionable” to shop second-hand and buy vintage things as people are more aware of reducing, resuing and recycling.

The church is hoping to make these things more the norm, so it then becomes okay for people to take what they need and give what they can.

‘Everybody is welcome’

Mrs Bruce has been working at the church for around six years, and discovered there is a large number of people who just make ends meet in the area.

This means they are not on the radar for any support services because they are coping. However, the 42-year-old found when furlough cut wages people started to struggle.

Picture by Paul Glendell/DC Thomson.

She said: “There’s always going to be people keeping up appearances, you don’t really know what’s going on unless you can get to know people.

“Everybody is welcome and everybody will be very much treated with dignity and respect as they come through and hopefully will experience some of that generosity when they come in.”

Big Food Appeal

As part of the Big Food Appeal, the Press and Journal and Evening Express have been working to highlight initiatives like Cfine helping our communities.

We have been reporting on the cost-of-living crisis, threatening households right to the brink, while our appeal aims to help charities and volunteers with their vital work.

We have also been making sure those in our communities know where to get help when they need as well as dispelling misconceptions around accessing emergency food.

For more information, or to get involved with The Big Food Appeal, click here.

Conversation