The village of Dudley in North Tyneside has a new social supermarket, thanks to a grant from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF).
Based inside the Out of Sight charity shop and community hub, it offers food and toiletries, including fresh, frozen and store cupboard groceries. £5 will buy enough to feed a family for three days.
It will be open every Saturday from 10am to 2pm and the offer is available to everyone, with no questions to answer and no means testing of any kind.
Out of Sight is a volunteer-led charity that provides events and holidays for visually impaired children and their families, carers and friends, and services for the wider community. It runs a well-stocked charity shop and community hub in Dudley which is open to all and offers support, regular activities, a warm space and somewhere to socialise. The charity received the Queen’s Award for volunteering services in 2019, equal to an MBE.
Out of Sight has received UKSPF funding for the social supermarket, community activities and to help grow the Weetslade Youth Group.
North Tyneside Council is partnering with North Tyneside VODA to deliver the UKSPF programme, which is funded by the UK Government with the North East Combined Authority as the lead authority. Through UKSPF, North Tyneside Council has invested over £1.2 million through a range of grants in the North West of the Borough.
It is part of the Council’s Ambition for the North West, creating attractive places to live, new opportunities for work and business, and inspiring spaces to play and visit.
Out of Sight chair Lisa Taylor said: “Some people in the village find it difficult to buy affordable fresh food because there are no supermarkets. For those who don’t drive it can be a real challenge.
“Online shopping is great for some people, but there is a minimum spend and not everyone has the technology skills to do an online food shop.
“We know that the demand for this will be high. The community hub and charity shop are already very popular. We are so grateful for the support we get from local people and our volunteers.
“We started doing Feeding Families food boxes during the pandemic and we still do 25 of those a month. The social supermarket will be available to everyone and we have some fantastic stock in, with lots of branded groceries, fruit and vegetables, frozen food and even some treats like boxes of chocolates.
“As well as offering affordable food, we are working on some recipe cards so that people can use what’s on offer to cook nutritious family meals.
“Fareshare are very kindly providing us with stock, we would love to hear from any supermarkets or other local food suppliers who can donate their surplus as well.”
Councillor Carl Johnson, Deputy Mayor for North Tyneside and cabinet member responsible for Regeneration, Culture and Economic Development said: “The Council is delighted to have secured £1.5 million of UKSPF funding, which is already funding 88 community projects in the North West of the Borough, through our partnership with North Tyneside VODA.
“These include youth and pensioners’ groups, conservation projects, football teams, a walking group, a community bus and many more.
“These projects are helping bring people together, take pride in where they live and support one another. The Out Of Sight social supermarket is giving people access to affordable fresh food at a time when many residents are struggling with the cost of living. The charity is offering support, activities and a friendly welcome to everyone in the community and we are very pleased to see this UKSPF funding being well spent.”
UKSPF was made available to any voluntary and community sector organisations that provide services in Camperdown, Weetslade and Longbenton, with five different types of grants: capital, large, medium, small and youth.
With a focus on creating a sense of renewed pride, identity and connectivity in local communities, UKSPF aims to increase life chances across the UK by investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills.
The capital, large, medium and youth funds are now closed, and all money has been allocated, but funding is still available through the small grants scheme via North Tyneside VODA until 31 December 2024.
The Out of Sight social supermarket is open Saturdays 10am to 2pm at 23 Weetslade Rd, Dudley, NE23 7HT.
A full map of food support in North Tyneside is available here.