COMMUNITY Embrace are very excited to formerly announce and share details of their latest project –

The Pantry & Wellbeing Centre, which is due to be launched at a special fundraising dinner gala on Friday 3rd Dec, 2021 at the Great Parndon Community Centre.

Community Food

After four years of planning and sourcing, the team at Community Embrace are overwhelmed to finally see their ‘dream’ project coming together, which ultimately becomes the first Food Pantry in Harlow.
With strong partnerships already established with key community agencies such as Phoenix Resource Centre, MRCT, Harlow Food Bank, The Bounty Club, Street2Homes, Roots2Wellbeing, Herts and Essex Community Farm, Rainbow Services, Harlow CAB, Harlow Credit Save, Integration Support Services, Essex Social Services/Wellbeing, Efua Sey Academy, Pardon Mill Gallery, Harlow Policing Team, Changing Lives and Harlow Progressive Friends (HPF) .

The Pantry will aim to offer local residents ‘a helping hand’ and a ‘choice’ to Affordable, Healthy and Accessible foods, hygiene essentials as well as a ‘safe space’ for social interactions, form new connections, share a coffee and engage in a range of cooking workshops or give back to the community through volunteering.

To be based at The Playbarn of The GPCA in Staple Tye (CM18 6YJ), the Pantry is open to all local residents and will run an Annual Membership Scheme with no strict criteria for just £5 a year per each adult within a household and £2.50 for each weekly visit.

Signed up members will enjoy a range of food items including fresh produce, frozen, long life and bakery as well as Hygiene, Make Up and Cleaning Essentials combined to provide an environmentally friendly incentive in ensuring that quality and nutritious items do not go to waste – especially while many homes are still recovering from the impact of the pandemic.

This is a wonderful project with an added value of building cohesion and bring communities together to support social inclusion and tackle loneliness as it is for the Community, to be run by the Community and for the benefit of the Community.

For more information, including membership registration, volunteering or donations, please email us [email protected] or simply complete our online membership form https://forms.gle/z65dpATSfTLtg16y

Their sincere gratitude goes to The Bounty Club (Harlow), The GPCA, Clarion Futures, Toiletries Amnesty and Engie for the incredible support in getting our project this far.