Salford charity Emmaus has launched a new Social Supermarket ‘Lucie’s Pantry’ which aims to provide food and household essentials to those in Pendleton struggling to make ends meet.

Those who wish to use Lucie’s Pantry will pay £2.50 per week and will then be able to shop for goods to the value of £15 per week.

[pullquote]“I’m not the person I used to be, it’s built my confidence up, and my life is just going better and better.”[/pullquote]

Pat Ekins will be in charge of running the Social Supermarket ‘Lucie’s Pantry’, she says Emmaus has changed her life for the better: “I’m not the person I used to be, it’s built my confidence up, and my life is just going better and better.”

The mayor of Salford, Paul Dennett, was there to cut the ribbon and officially open Lucie’s Pantry, he said, “The fact that people are having to use facilities like this in 21st century Britain is an absolute disgrace…but the good will of the people in the city of Salford and organisations like Emmaus have all come together to find solutions to what are really tough problems we face in our communities.”

Simon Locke, Salford’s Emmaus Community Leader explained that Lucie’s Pantry is very different to a food bank, “What we are is a food co-op. A food bank acts as an emergency and you’re only meant to go two or three times, with Lucie’s Pantry you can go indefinitely.

“We try to create an environment where people don’t feel like they’re in receipt of charity because I think people struggle enough to admit they are struggling to make ends meet.”

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