Pan Together – the charity which exists to support and provide a community hub for the residents of East Newport – is opening its new community larder for the first time on Friday (4th November).
Open from 12:00-15:00, going forward, the community larder will be open for those times each Tuesday and Friday.
Pan Together is a membership-based group, where members have a say and elect trustees annually to oversee the charity’s management, strategy and policy.
The residents of Pan, Pan Meadows, Barton and Fairlee will be able to visit the larder on becoming members of the charity. Membership is free, just as weekly access to the larder for 2 shopping bags of goods per household will be free at least until the end of the year.
From the new year, there is likely to be a small charge. Donations towards the cost of the stock will be welcome on a ‘pay as you feel’ basis.
Rachel Thomson, Community Centre Manager, said:
“No one should face going hungry. No one should have to choose between food, fuel and children’s clothes. The Pan Community Larder will provide direct and vital support to local families and households in these grim, tough and challenging times when the cost of living crisis is biting so very hard for so many”.
“Sadly, Pan Together’s community support and anti-poverty services are becoming increasingly essential and provide a real lifeline to so many vulnerable and marginalised local people. We’ve seen a shocking 160% increase in requests for food-related support in the period from July to the end of September 2022 compared to requests from October 2021 to June 2022.
Article continues below this advertisement “If anyone wishes to donate goods or, indeed, money to keep the larder and our other support services up and running, contact me on 01983 248 170; email [email protected]; or contact us via our website (www.pantogether.org.uk) or Pan Together’s Facebook page”.
The Isle of Wight Foundation is the charitable organisation made of the partners behind Island Roads. Each year it awards grants of between £3,000 and £16,000 to good causes working to tackle social exclusion on the Island.
How do you stop this from being abused by people who just want free stuff but do not need it ?
Basically, you don’t.
You accept that a certain number of people will get stuff they don’t need and introduce safeguards that prevent as much of it as possible without stopping those really deserving of help getting it.
If you introduce safeguards so stringent that everyone who doesn’t deserve help doesn’t get it, you will, invariably, also ensure just as many who do deserve help don’t get it either.
There is also a cost factor. Security and eligibility checks cost time and money. The number of people “trying it on” has to be balanced against the cost of stopping them.
Simple say no to all.
Why?
Well in this country EVERYONE gets the same benefits if in the same situation, so either ALL needs help or NONE
EAT
HEAT
OR MOBILE PHONE
PRIORITIZE
Feed your own children YOU bred
or feed your own habit with the child allowance and Universal credit and get other ‘mugs’ to pay for your mini clones to grow up even worse.