On 17 July some of our East Midlands & East Anglia colleagues were invited to the official launch of the new REACH Community Grocers at Pride Park, Derby. We were delighted to attend as one of the principal funders of the new community grocers and adjacent community hub, after the REACH charity was awarded a £15,900 grant from our Customer & Communities Investment Fund last year. Several of our colleagues also volunteered some of their time a couple of weeks earlier to help paint the internal walls of the new grocers shop.
REACH Community Grocers will help families and individuals who are struggling to put food on their tables in the face of today’s cost-of-living crisis. As members it gives them the dignity of choosing and purchasing their shopping for a fraction of the cost of a supermarket. Because food will be sourced which is excess to supermarket requirements, thousands of tonnes of food will be saved from being wasted each year. But it’s more than about food. Next to the shop is a new Community Hub. Here members can access free support and courses such as budgeting, healthy cooking and employment skills.
At the launch event David Jones, Stakeholder Liaison Manager, East Midlands & East Anglia said: “Each year CrossCountry invests in groups, projects and other initiatives around our network which provide much needed support to the communities we serve. We are especially keen to support initiatives that help deliver sustainable benefits for individuals and the wider community. We can’t wait to see how the new Community Grocers and Hub grows and the positive impact it has on everyone who uses it.”
