Peckham Pantry - an alternative, sustainable and dignified model of community-based food support
The impact and sustainability of Peckham Pantry evaluation has been released, and gives an in-depth view, with key findings of an alternative model of a community-based food support.
‘This report aims to showcase the full value and impact of Peckham Pantry to inspire continued and new support in future.’
In the early months of 2020, Pecan received funding from Impact on Urban Health to dramatically expand their Pantry offer. The vision was to trial and test a new way to support local people on low incomes to access affordable and healthy food by opening six days per week at a permanent retail space on Peckham Park Road.
With all the data showing increased dependency on UK food banks, the question was whether Peckham Pantry could offer an alternative, sustainable and dignified model of community-based food support for other areas to adapt in future.
Remembering early 2020 now requires a feat of memory and imagination; the Covid-19 pandemic and cost of living crisis served to both change the course of delivery and consolidate local need. The Peckham Pantry team responded to these challenges, while also meeting the other demands of delivering a retail operation such as food safety requirements, sourcing a consistent and appropriate supply of quality food and managing a large volunteer workforce.
We worked flexibly alongside Pecan for four years as evaluation learning partner. I’m delighted that the first of two key reports has been published. The Impact and Sustainability of Peckham Pantry shows how the Pantry helped ease Members’ budgets, reduced their anxiety over accessing food and helped them feel more connected to their local community.
‘We worked flexibly alongside Pecan for four years as
evaluation learning partner.’
The report also shows the full financial costs of delivering the model and it is clear, especially due to recent rises in inflation, that Peckham Pantry is not financially sustainable based on income from Member shopping visits alone. In other words, despite the potential to deliver impact at scale, Peckham Pantry will need external funding to continue to support its 1,500 active members in future.
This report aims to showcase the full value and impact of Peckham Pantry to inspire continued and new support in future. After four year of evaluation, there is more to share so if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Linda Jackson was learning partner lead for the evaluation of Peckham Pantry, working with other independent consultants Sophie Reid, Emma Carter , Emma Carter and Neil Reeder across the fours years of the project. Linda is founder of The Loom, a research and evaluation consultancy with social inclusion at its heart.
