As the cost of living crisis continues in Northern Ireland, the team at one local charity is taking matters into their own hands.
The Ashton Centre in the New Lodge area of North Belfast has launched a community food store to help those in the local area through a holistic approach.
Differing from a food bank, The Pantry operates on a weekly membership fee of £5 where members can receive up to £40 worth of groceries for a period of 12 weeks.
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As well as this, members are connected with a trained mentor to help them develop skills such as help with advice, budgeting, debt management, cooking, and nutrition.
Describing the initiative as a "hand up, not a hand out", Joanne Kinnear from the Ashton Centre said they want to ensure people who use their services are fully supported.
"The big point of this is respect and dignity," she continued.
"This is our neighbours we're working with, we don't want people to be scuttling away because they're embarrassed, we want people to know this happens to everybody at some point in their life, and if it happens that's what your community does - they step in and support you.
"People come into the food store, get a basket, and choose their items which are then scanned at the till. They then get a receipt showing how much their shopping would have cost.
"They chose what their kids want to eat. We're trying to instil the same dignity, agency and choice that anybody has regarding their circumstances."
Socio-economic deprivation is high in North Belfast, with child poverty here twice the regional average with rates in excess of 43%.
With matters made worse by the current cost of living crisis, the team at The Pantry are first trying to alleviate food and heat insecurity so people in the local community can feel empowered.
Joanne said: "The hook to get people in is people's immediate need which is food and heat. If your belly's empty and your house is cold, your kids can't concentrate in school, you can't think about anything else except what you have and what you need.
"It's been a real magnifying glass onto where people really are. The staff are fantastic and when parents are coming in really focused on getting their children sorted, they'll ask would they not take a wee something for themselves.
"We had someone call us out of hours asking when we would be open again as they had run out of nappies for their baby. There's something really wrong. If we can help in any way, that's what we'll do."
Christine McKeown from the Ashton Centre added that they try to encourage families shopping at The Pantry to treat themselves with a self-care item, with many people coming in just looking for essentials.
She said: "The one thing for us is you're asking people what they need, and they say they just need stuff for dinners for their family. They're not really taking anything else, they're literally going around and looking for dinner items.
"If you're out for your shopping, you may add in a wee something for yourself, like a lovely bubble bath or something like that, we are encouraging our families to do the same.
"I have been working at Ashton for over 20 years and have done family support for many years, but I have never experienced anything like this in all my years of working."
The Pantry was funded by Belfast Charitable Society for the set up of the project and they work alongside other groups such as local food banks, the North Belfast Advice Partnership, the Duncairn Healthy Living Centre, Bridge of Hope and other services at the Ashton Centre such as Belfast Works.
This allows them to help people get the full support they need and develop other skills once the basic need for food is granted.
Christine said they have been "overwhelmed" with the support they have received so far.
"From people asking to get involved, people offering to come and volunteer. We have some people asking to get involved with fundraising, and our local Tesco and Co-Op are asking to come out," she added.
"We're looking for some sponsorship potentially for some of the shelves, so we're looking at how local businesses can sponsor a shelf to support us supporting families in North Belfast.
"We're aware there's limited resources there for food banks, so we want to look at a model for how we can sustain this and we were blessed to get a seeding grant from Belfast Charitable Society to set it up and get some funding from the Housing Executive to get it working for two years.
"So it's now looking at how we can replenish the stock and how do we ensure when you come in, you have this lovely choice of items you need for your family."
Joanne said: "Businesses can sponsor a shelf for £1,200 a year - which is £100 a month. That would be enough to replenish that shelf, and that section would belong to that company and we can advertise their information on it.
"It's an opportunity for small local businesses too who are always busting to get involved, it's affordable for them to contribute and it's a staple for us."
To find out more information about The Pantry, you can contact Christine McKeown at Ashton on 02890742255 or at christine@ashtoncentre.com
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