The Place at Platt Lane - Has been delivering a successful community pantry project from our community hub in the heart of Fallowfield.

The project is a lifeline to local families and securing funding for two sessions a week has enabled us to support more households within the local community to join our affordable food scheme and help make ends meet, providing around £20 worth of fresh groceries, chilled products, tinned & dry food per week, we can also provide essential toiletries as an additional offer and we now partner with other agencies to be able to request essential household items & clothing for those who need them.

How does the Pantry work?

Our members must live locally and are either referred by other organisations or join via enquiring in the centre.

They pay £4 per session for the Grocery shop and have the option to also purchase essential hygiene products for an additional £4. These items include toilet roll, deodorant, shower gel, toothpaste etc. 

The membership fee goes back into the project and helps to pay towards groceries from FareShare, a national charity who provide high quality surplus food with a mission to tackle food poverty & prevent waste. We also buy from leading supermarkets such as Asda & Sainsburys to ensure we can provide families with enough choice of products to make healthy meals.

Most weeks we have additional freebies to compliment the offer. This could be anything from air fryer liners to laundry products, toothbrushes or snacks.

About the role:

We are looking for volunteers to join our team to help us with unloading deliveries of food & helping to restock the pantry & fridges on Thursday or Friday afternoons ready for our next pantry sessions.

This role isn’t a customer facing role – This would suit someone who prefers to work behind the scenes whilst still playing a vital role on a valued community project supporting families in our community. 

You will be undertaking a variety of practical tasks, including taking receipt of & unloading the delivery of food delivered by FareShare & local supermarkets and restocking our pantry and fridges/freezers, ready for the community Pantry shop to open the next day. Moving and organising extra stock to our store rooms etc.

About You - Skills & Attributes: 

• This is a practical role therefore, you must be confident in your ability to carry out physical tasks,  reasonably fit and in good health as you will be lifting/carrying stock, shelving the items and be involved in the moving and handling of deliveries.
• Able to follow direction and procedures and work as part of a team.
• Have good reading and numeracy skills to be able to read labels, identify items and shelve them correctly. You will often be splitting bulk items into portions and labelling them accordingly.
• Good organisational skills.
• Are pro-active and able to use your own initiative and utilise problem-solving skills.
• Able to maintain high standards of health & safety and food hygiene standards at all times.
• Must be reliable and punctual and able to commit to your agreed times, reporting any absence as soon as possible to the relevant member of staff.

Benefits for you:

Our Community Pantry would not be possible without the dedication of our volunteers. If you are a practical person who is interested in helping your local community, making a difference to people’s life’s and wish to gain new skills, meet new people or improve your confidence please get in touch.

• You will receive a full induction & support from staff, you will complete some mandatory training such as Food Safety & Hygiene & Manual Handling, with access to a library of CPD courses on our online academy for your personal development or interests.
• Gain experience of working on an active community food share project.
• Opportunities to get involved in other projects led by our community hub.
• Access to our Community Pantry Sessions.
• Reference for your CV - subject to at least 3 months of satisfactory volunteering.
• Travel expenses provided - Day rider bus passes are provided for those using public transport. (We ask that anyone applying for the position lives within a reasonable distance to Fallowfield due to funding limitations.)

Please note: Due to the high volume of applications we cannot promise to contact everyone. If you are contacted, you will be asked to complete our application form & provide a character reference. Please email tina@theplacefallowfield.co.uk with any questions.