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Community Pantry
In our Staveley Edge Centre, we run a pantry shop for the local community. Our customers pay £5 per year for a membership, and then members pay a £5 weekly fee and receive a full weeks’ worth of groceries, with the dignity and autonomy of choosing their own products in the fully stocked shop. While the pantry is open, we run a café alongside where customers can wait comfortably with free tea and coffee, plus pastries and chat- some people still come in when they don’t need a shop but just to enjoy the company and chat in the cafe.
We have over 100 members, who attend when they need to, and an amazing team of volunteers taking ownership of this project. We’re super grateful for a bunch of great partnerships with local shops, businesses, community groups, and schools too, who provide donations on a regular basis, and all the proceeds from the sales we make go straight back into the project to order more stock for the following week. We even incorporate stock from our own community garden when we can!
As people who visit the community pantry often find themselves in difficult circumstances, we also offer our debt, housing and benefits advice with a face-to-face advisor. We don’t want to offer just a ‘quick fix’, we want to see people helped long-term and it’s heartwarming to see how our community has come together to support each other, creating a positive and pay-it-forward atmosphere!
Little Stars
We have baby and toddler groups in our Centre’s called Little Stars. We see so many people coming along to these groups, week in and week out – mums, dads, grandmas, grandads, carers and foster carers come for a free, friendly and fun morning – making great connections with other parents as well as our volunteers.
Through these groups we’re really privileged to be a part of many families’ weekly routine, and we get to see and celebrate milestones with them, as many kids come from birth until they move on to pre-school. It’s a privilege for our team to come alongside and share life together, often offering to pray for the needs of little ones (and big ones!) as they go, and delighting in seeing God answer these prayers as he always faithfully does!
One parent moved into the area near one of our Centre’s before it had opened and said she stood on the pavement outside the Centre and cried when she realised it was closed. Fast forward 18 months and she now helps to run the Little Stars project, helping other parents and carers in the area to find a space to belong, and a place for their little ones to thrive.
Community Cafe's
Every week, in all our centres around Chesterfield, we open Community Cafés designed with an open living room vibe. Run by an amazing group of staff and volunteers, they provide free food of varying kinds (and especially cake!) and drinks with a warm welcome to all. Many attend and find comfort, listening ears and friendship in the warm and welcoming atmosphere.
Breaking up an otherwise very lonely and, in lots of cases, hungry week, our Cafés offer people an accessible and safe space to connect and laugh with others, fill their bellies, and spend time amongst people who will not judge them, but befriend them and offer kindness, compassion and a listening ear. Our on-site advisor is also present to give help with anything from form-filling to benefits and housing advice for anyone who finds it challenging to navigate those areas.
84-year-old Sarah* attends every week and has only missed a week because of an emergency hospital admission. “I love it here,” she says, as she sips her coffee and tucks into her beans on toast, “I don’t have any family around anymore, so being able to get out and be amongst people is so good for me.”
The Cafés are often people’s first introduction to the Edge Centres and have been a springboard for many into attending other projects and even finding a new sense of value and purpose through helping and volunteering themselves.
Dan* has found that attending Café has really helped to bring him out of a place of depression and hopelessness. His growth in self-esteem through people showing him love and care and building on his new relationships by attending communion meals and other Edge Faith Community activities have led to him finding faith in Jesus for himself, along with the confidence to begin volunteering at other projects within the Edge Centre, developing new skills and giving him a desire to share with others what he has gained himself.
Jeff* began attending in the throes of addiction and poverty. Lacking any zeal for life, he has found a safe space where he can be himself and build relationships with people who accept him and value him. Inquisitive about the faith he has seen displayed around him, he now has his own bible that we gifted to him, along with lots of encouragement to build a personal prayer life. All of this is helping him begin to take greater control over his life choices and provided a sense of purpose in taking on simple practical tasks helping around the Centre: he sets up tables for Café, clears tables and washes up, and attends other projects because he now has something to get up in the mornings for.
Last week Clara’s* children and grandchildren popped in to visit the café because Clara* had raved to them so much about how this place had changed her life, given her some independence and welcomed her into a community. They were so pleased to meet the people who had made such a positive impact on their mum/Grandma’s life, and share the difference in confidence they had seen in her over the past year since she began attending.
