Pantries are reuniting communities, saving households huge sums, and helping people avoid reaching crisis point
We’re thrilled today to announce that the Your Local Pantry network has reached its one millionth visit – at the same time as new findings show more clearly than ever that Pantries are successfully preventing people from falling into acute crisis.
We marked the milestone moment with a community breakfast event for members, supporters and friends in Birmingham, home to more Pantries than any other UK city.
A million visits is an incredible milestone. It represents a million moments of real face-to-face community spirit in action – a million smiles, hellos, welcomes, greetings, shared laughs, comforting shoulders, and friendship and more.
We’ve also completed new research into the financial value of Pantry membership.
Members typically now save £27 each time they visit a Pantry, and over the past 12 months members across the country saved a total of £6.9 million!
Pantries help people avoid crisis point
The millionth visit came at the same time as new research, showing that community food clubs such as Pantries are leading to a reduction in food bank usage and severe hunger.
Among Your Local Pantry members who had previously had to use a food bank, 71 per cent had been able to reduce or completely stop their food bank usage. Furthermore, 70 per cent of members who previously had to skip meals were doing so less often, since joining a Pantry or similar project.
One member said: “I have been able to eat meals instead of skipping them while my kids eat every meal. Before, I was skipping an evening meal every other day to make sure that there was food on the table for my children.”
This summer and autumn, Your Local Pantry and six similar organisations surveyed over 14,000 people who access membership-based food clubs. These projects typically operate at neighbourhood level, with local residents joining as members and accessing top-quality groceries in return for just a few pounds per visit.
Our survey found that as well as saving members money and helping them to avert crisis, Pantries are also bringing a range of social and health positives:
- 82% of members surveyed said they feel more connected to their community
- 97% say they’re more able to afford to eat balanced meals
- 75% are eating more fresh fruit and vegetables
- 83% say they feel less stressed or worried about running out of food
Pantries must be a big part of the solution
The surveys were coordinated by Feeding Britain and took place over summer 2025. An analysis of the combined results concluded that “food clubs represent one of the most promising place-based approaches to tackling hunger in the UK”.
It said: “Food clubs can and must form a part of a multi-layered strategy to eliminate hunger from the UK, demonstrating that affordable, nutritious food can be a vehicle for transformation, not just survival, and that with strategic support, this transformation can be sustained and scaled.”
Comments
James Henderson, Your Local Pantry network coordinator: “Pantries are real places of hope that bring communities together, and enable people to unite and improve each other’s lives together. Reaching one million visits is a testament to the kindness and goodness of all the volunteers, members and supporters across the UK, but also to the effectiveness of the approach.
“Pantries are not a substitute for economic justice – the Government needs to step up to address the scandalous cost of living, and to ensure everyone has an adequate income to live on. But while we press for national change, membership food projects are incredibly transformative. Councils, faith groups or anyone else looking to make a difference would struggle to find a better way to support communities.”
Ed Powell, partner and impact manager at Co-op, a long-standing partner of Your Local Pantry: “Pantries are a progressive step forward to help local people own their access to food, and the powerful membership model has cooperation at its heart. Pantries aren’t just about food – now, more than ever, they show the power of food to bring people from different backgrounds together in community.”
Marie Gilluley, Chair of the SKylight Board in Stockport, where the first Pantries opened in 2013: “It’s remarkable to see how something that began in Stockport has grown into a network serving communities across the UK. Reaching one million visits is an important milestone and a reflection of the steady, dedicated work of our members, volunteers and partners who make each pantry possible.”
