A social supermarket has been hailed a “massive achievement” after opening in Shirley Warren on Tuesday.
Through £32,000 worth of funding, The Big Difference, a Southampton-based food redistribution charity, has opened a social supermarket at the site of a former disused library at Shirley Warren Primary School.
Open between 2pm and 4pm every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, members of the public can buy affordable, accessible, and healthier food.
Speaking to the Echo, CEO of The Big Difference, Sanjay Mall, said: “This is an outstanding project, I can’t believe how good it looks.
“It’s a massive achievement and will have a massive impact on people in Shirley Warren.
“A lot of work has gone into this to make it right with the help of around 20 volunteers.
“We’re thankful to the school, the council, who have backed it and given me the permission to go ahead with it, everybody’s working together to help each other.
“We’d been talking about doing this for 10 months and we’ve put it all together in four months.
“We already have a site in Northam and support charities in Woolston, we really think this new project will work because there’s always a demand for our services.”
European super-featherweight champion, Ryan Garner, attended the launch of the social supermarket, that saw customers and volunteers who helped make the project come to life step through the doors for the first time.
Aaron Dolman, operations and logistics manager at The Big Difference, said the opening of the new supermarket was one of his “proudest achievements.”
“It’s a team effort and without the volunteers it wouldn’t be possible.
“Some of the guys were coming in at 6am to get cracking, so we’re very thankful to anyone who has contributed.”
Food sold at the store has been donated by the likes of Iceland, Fare Share, and The Berry Company, which donated 3,200 punnets of berries.
Ash James, chair of trustees at The Big Difference, added: “It’s a real privilege for me to be chair of trustees for this charity because we built it from nothing, and our aim was to feed people in need.
“This is what it’s all about and we hope the social supermarket will be a real asset to the community.”
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