Mutual Aid Alnwick

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Gone but not forgotten :')

Hey everyone, this is the post we didn't want to have to write, but unfortunately the Community Larder has now closed down and has transformed once again into a phone box.

We'd hope to keep it going until after Christmas, but with volunteer ill health added to the mix, it was becoming counterproductive to keep emptying it of junk and replacing it with food. Please refrain from leaving anything in the phone box - it is now just a phone box and will not be monitored by our volunteers. Please place your household waste in the approriate bins!

We want to focus on the positives, and we're especially grateful to Alnwick District Food Bank for their fantastic support over the last 4.5 years. If you're one of the 1 in 4 Northumbrians affected by food poverty, we strongly encourage you to seek their support. They were absolutely instrumental in getting the Larder up and running and in keeping it going for as long as it has.

The Larder was only ever going to be a temporary thing - we certainly didn't anticipate it would be going for years rather than months, but we're proud of what we achieved and couldn't have done it without the help of the community. Thank you to our volunteers, to the lady who made us the shelves, the community groups who added so much material support, and all of you who donated food. The people help the people.

We're keen to talk about continuity and stigma-free ways of helping those in food poverty and we'll keep this page open for as long as possible, so if you have any ideas (and the capacity to implement those ideas), please let us know!

Solidarity forever xx

Hey all, sorry for a bit of a downer of a post. Today our volunteers spent over an hour clearing out the community larder - this isn't the first time. Currently, it's refilling faster than we can clear it, and unfortunately, none of the donations are food. Our volunteers had to pick up broken glass and underwear from the ground. This is a long way from our intended purpose, which is the stigma-free alleviation of food poverty in our town.

Unfortunately, if this happens again, we are going to have to close the larder for good. It's not a fair use of our time and resources to be having to do this type of work on such a regular basis, and worse, it means that there is no space on the shelves for food.

We don't say this lightly; after all, we've been operating for 4.5 years and would like to be able to contribute in some small way towards helping those in need. If you have clothes to get rid of, there are several recycling areas in the centre of town, around 3 minutes walk from the Larder. There are also several charity shops in town.

Thanks again for the support!

Larder topped up thanks to your OpenCollective donations!

Just a reminder to please avoid donating household items please - as you can see here, we've had less space for food this time round. Thank you for all the help and support!

Really disappointing to see that the Community Larder has been vandalised with transphobic stickers (which we've now removed). The Larder has been operational for over four years, run by volunteers, supporting food poverty alleviation efforts in Alnwick. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, and everyone in need of food has always been welcome and will always be welcome to take food from the Larder. Trans people are a valued and welcome part of our community. If you see stickers like this, please take them down. We do not support this bigotry.

Hi everyone, we've noticed an increase in people leaving general household items in the Community Larder lately. Please don't do this - the Larder is meant specifically for food and food poverty alleviation efforts. Having the space taken up with pillows, furniture and so on means there's less space for this food, and it adds to the workload of our volunteers. There's plenty of charity shops that would be a much better home for these items!

Well-stocked larder on a sunny day!🌞

Thinking of our friends in Southport today

Our volunteer is now Covid-free and was able to top up the larder today! Reminded us of the need for continuity planning - if you're able to help look after the community larder, please get in touch.

Assistance requested!

Our volunteer who usually fills the Community Larder has Covid at the moment. If you're able to help in any way, either by donating food or just tidying the larder as you're passing, we'd be enormously grateful!

Larder tidied up and topped up! Thank to all our volunteers and donors.