The Duchess of Gloucester visited the Pantry, during a wider visit to the region.

Nicola McIlwaine, Pantry manager, said: “She particularly wanted to visit our Pantry and Renew (our clothing facility), however some of our other environments were there on the day too e.g. Connect Cafe, English lessons & Hope Rising (a programme we have developed for people suffering with mild depression and or anxiety).

Woman holding a hand of another woman within a pantry
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She toured the Pantry and especially loved that fresh fruit and vegetables are available as part of our offering. She concluded her visit by cutting a cake and gave a speech thanking everyone for their continued work in our community.

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behind view of people at a conference
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 It was obviously top secret and we couldn’t even tell our volunteers so we brought them under the guise of a thank you lunch where all was revealed. The Duchess was really lovely and spent lots of time with the volunteers chatting about what they do and seemed genuinely interested.

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