News
News
16 Aug 2019

Community Shop Celebrates Half Decade Milestone and 30 million meals.

Social enterprise celebrates transformative social impact achieved in first five years.

Community Shop, the UK’s first social supermarket chain and award-winning social enterprise, is celebrating helping create 30 million meals from surplus food, which may have otherwise gone to waste. This has been achieved in just five years, as Community Shop works to build stronger individuals and more confident communities.

Community Shop is part of the UK’s leading redistribution organisation, Company Shop Group, and sells high-quality, low-cost surplus food to local members who are receiving welfare support.

With a network of stores in South Yorkshire, North East Lincolnshire and London, Community Shop provides life-changing personal development training through its Community Hub and Community Kitchen. Its carefully tailored sessions cover everything from money management advice and employability skills, to cookery skills and home budgeting.

Over 5,000 members have attended the Community Hub’s success plan; while 750 members have progressed into learning and development; and 542 members have moved into full time work since joining.

To mark the special five-year anniversary, Community Shop has released its first social impact film, entitled Dinner with John. It provides a first-hand insight into Community Shop’s life-changing work, told by the members and Community Leaders who have benefitted from it.

The anniversary celebrations also follow another successful year for the social enterprise, which was awarded two Social Enterprise Awards at the end of 2018, in recognition of its transformative social impact work in the local communities it serves.

John Marren, Founder and Chairman of Community Shop, said:

We are so proud to have served local communities across the UK for half a decade, generating a measurable and tangible difference that goes way beyond providing high-quality, low-cost food to our members.

“Alongside providing families on the cusp of food poverty with food access, and preventing unnecessary waste across the industry, we are also proud of the transformative work we have delivered for our members and in our communities."

This achievement is testament to the hard work and dedication of our fantastic colleagues, members, supporters, and industry donation partners, who all play a part in helping us deliver this significant impact.

“We look forward to building on the last five years and continuing to work closely with partners who want to make a real difference.”