Volunteers behind a new “social supermarket” aimed at tackling poverty stigma and reducing reliance on foodbanks hope to one day be “out of a job”.
The Dartford Larder, based at Copperfields Walk in the town centre, offers discounted food to members struggling on low incomes.
It operates on a subscription model with those using it able to come in once a week and pay a subsidised flat fee of £4.50 for a certain amount of items – including unlimited fruit and vegetables.
Within weeks of opening the larder has seen user numbers increase to almost 200 “subscribers”.
Key to the project’s mission is tackling the stigma around such services, while also aiming to break a “culture of dependency” around existing food bank useage.
“Anyone that is worried about coming to a food bank or felt the stigma of coming to a foodbank can feel a bit more at ease coming in here, it’s not rushed or pushed,” explained Gail Johnson-Stenning, supervisor at the Dartford Larder.
“We have a room out the back where they can come and have tea coffee and some biscuits, sit and chat.”
Ms Johnson-Stenning herself used to frequent the nearby Dartford Foodbank before becoming a volunteer.
“I couldn’t make ends meet and used to go without food so the kids could eat, so it was a bit easier for me to understand what’s needed,” she added.
“I got involved with it in the beginning because of the fact I was unemployed.
“I came down to the foodbank the first couple of times and wouldn’t come in because there was too much of a stigma about it, I was too embarrassed.”
But after volunteering for two years Ms Johnson-Stenning says she got a “feel for the people and an understanding”.
“And when they said about the Larder I thought what a great way of getting people to come in who wouldn’t ordinarily use a foodbank,” she added.
The project is a collaboration between Crossways Community Church, the Healthy Living Centre and Dartford council which used grant funding to secure the premises for the new service.
The council believes the current model of support lends itself to a “culture of dependency” and overreliance on the once-weekly Dartford Foodbank.
There are currently eight foodbanks operating in Dartford.
In September 2024, four of those foodbanks provided food parcels to 585 families and individuals. It is proposed that Dartford’s network of foodbanks will refer clients who have accessed their services for more than four months to the Larder.
Ms Johnson-Stenning said she wants it to become “a community hub” where local people can come down and “say hello to people that they’ve met before”.
“If I can make a difference to one person’s life then hopefully all of us together can make a difference to hundreds of people by the time we’ve done a year,” she added.
Stephen Brindley, a trustee of Crossways Community Church which helped set up the new shop, says the project had been in the works for “about a year and a half.”
“We had the initial idea when we were running the old foodbank idea years ago,” he continued.
“The council knew we were trying to find a building to be able to do it and operate it, and they wanted to bring other things to the party like the cooking classes and stuff like that which we were totally up for.”
People who use it become ‘subscribers’, and can come in once a week for goods.
When people come in for the first time staff “triage” them – working out the source of their need and offering connections to other services for help with housing or other issues, and even helping people navigate matters like securing bus passes.
The Healthy Living Centre offers cooking classes to visitors as well.
“You can go round with a shopping basket – it’s a normal shopping experience we have a checkout etc,” Mr Brindley continued.
We almost want to do ourselves out of a job so that we’re not needed anymore
“We want to promote that healthier eating as well – because we know when you go to a shop it’s more expensive to buy some fruit and vegetables than it is a 50p packet of biscuits.
“We want to try to promote that healthier eating and if we can offer that here then we know they’re going to be eating healthier at home.”
He says the shop’s busiest days are Tuesdays where they often see up to 100 people, and about 30-60 most other days.
The larder opened its doors on June 17, and Mr Brindley says they already have more than 160 subscribers.
Despite the positive response to the store’s opeing, Mr Brindley hopes one day the service will become redundant.
“We hope that even though the numbers might increase we want to be able to decrease those numbers, “ he added.
“We almost want to do ourselves out of a job so that we’re not needed anymore, but society says different so we’re here to stay and support as long as we can.
“Everybody is just a pay cheque away from being in a situation where they need help.”
