The amazing 11-year-olds uniting a community through food
This inspiring story tells of five 11-year-olds, who have become the youngest people in the UK to launch a Pantry.
Makayla, Ahmad, Retaj, Ayman and Mustafa created the Pantry at Marlborough Community Hub, a community building in the grounds of Marlborough Road primary school in Salford as part of a leadership project, with support from staff.
What the children say:
Ayman: “Everyone was talking about how we could help the community, and make it more fair for everyone. We wanted to help with the financial situation and help people come together, because this is not just for food. I hope it becomes well known then becomes a really big help. This can help our community. It’s been very busy and people love how we have set everything up and made it very affordable, especially for people in hard financial situations.
“We are a welcoming diverse school and we are very unique, especially now that we’re the first children in the country to open a Pantry!”
Ahmad: “It will help the community by lowering costs and making it more affordable to eat.”
Retaj: “My hope is for it to grow and for my parents to come and shop here and for it to be more affordable.”
Makayla: “I’m proud. Not every school could do something like this.”
Mustafa: “We all thought about people in need and we wanted to comfort and help people around us, and we talked about what we could do in the Pantry.”
How they did it...
The children worked on the Pantry idea as part of a leadership project when they were in Year 5.
The Pantry was all ready to open a year ago, but was then badly damaged by a serious fire that began in the lighting, the day after the soft launch, which forced a big rebuilding project.
A pop-up stall was used while the damage was repaired, but the Pantry was completed again in time for the children to see it before they moved on to secondary school this summer.
Judith Richens, community development lead at the hub, said she was hugely proud of the children. There are 48 first languages at the school, and Judith said the children had excelled in explaining the Pantry to families and translating for people.
They also visited a Pantry in Stockport to see how it works, and talked about their idea to other schools in their academy trust., United Learning.
We'll work together, see what matters and make it happen
Judith says: “What particularly attracted me to the Pantry rather than a social supermarket or a food bank, is the membership idea. It is for members and run by members, and people choose and shop, rather than someone assuming what people are to have, and saying ‘this is what we’re giving you’.
“We also have an allotment next to the building to grow food for school dinners, and to provide fruit and veg for the Pantry, and there’s the added bonus of reducing the carbon footprint of the school.
“This space is not just a Pantry. It’s an opportunity to meet people, and with other projects it becomes a wrap-around support service.
“Our ultimate aim, wider than the Pantry, is for this community space to be used by the community for the community. We are listening to what people want and finding out what matters and helping use people’s gifts and talents to make it happen.”
The Pantry also has an allotment, created by the previous year’s pupil project, including rhubarb, onions, raspberries, carrots, courgettes, flowers, strawberries, garlic and potatoes, and a hedgerow of other edibles, created with City of Trees.
The Community Hub is supported by Your Local Pantry partner, United Communities, a charity that supports the development of place-based, school-linked community hubs.
Pantry can bring the community together
Shumaila Taswir, Ayman’s mum and lead volunteer, says: “I hope it will bring the community together and help people in difficult times. Most people are struggling but do not like to say.
Here, they can come and choose whatever they want, and socialise here as well.”
The Pantry will be open every week, with a daytime session and an evening session. The evening slot will double as a drop-in session with Barnardo’s, for local 16 to 20-year-olds living independently.
There will be a cafe area and the Pantry has teamed up with Neighbourly and local Aldi and M&S stores, to help source extra stock.
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