Sleaford Community Grocers
Membership only £5 for the year & 4 shops per week.
Our not for profit membership scheme is open to anyone & everyone. Sign up in store now!
Thanks for helping us to reduce food waste!
We’re here to help you!
More and more families in Sleaford & District are facing the prospect of not knowing exactly how to provide food for their families - but Sleaford Community Grocers is here to support those who need it.
When you come Inside our grocery store, you’ll find a range of fresh food & staple items, straight from food distributors, local food suppliers & supplies given to food banks, some of which are in ample supply or short-dated. We want to ensure, nothing is wasted. Our members can come and shop for their entire family at a fraction of the cost of a local supermarket, whilst collectively saving tonnes of food from being wasted each year. A grocery shop won’t cover all your needs, but every little helps!
As well as the food, in the grocery store you’ll also able to access a range of support services, free to our members. Support and signposting to things such as volunteering opportunities, household budget courses, healthy eating cooking classes with recipe cards, exploring Alpha & much more.
Sleaford Community Grocers is facilitated by New Life Church Sleaford, in partnership with other local churches & community groups. Sleaford Community Grocers is independent from other Community Grocery outlets around the UK & Overseas.
So how did it start?
All of our lives have changed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, and throughout this time communities around the country have come together to help those in need. During the pandemic we (New Life Church), through Sleaford Community Larder provided 81,174 meals in food parcels to homes across Sleaford & District who would have struggled to put food on the table without a bit of extra help.
As lockdown lifted, it quickly became clear that the need wasn’t going away and in fact was getting worse. We couldn’t stand by and do nothing. The cost of living is increasing and many more households are struggling. From this, the idea of a Sleaford Community Grocers was born.
Fast forward to now, and we’re here in Sleaford with our shelves stacked full of great quality food, that has been either purchased or kindly donated to us by local food distributors, suppliers & others. We’re here and ready to help support families and individuals as needed.
How does it work?
Firstly, you sign up to become a member of Sleaford Community Grocers - costing just £5 annually. Once you’re a member, you then have access to four weekly shops for just £6 each (July 2022). Our aim is to keep the cost as low as possible.
As members you can come and shop for your whole family in store, giving you access to food that’s affordable and helps our environment in reducing food waste.
Our wonderful suppliers provide the grocery with surplus food, including fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as canned and packaged goods.
Where exactly does the food come from?
Many of the fresh items in our grocery store have been sourced from food distributors, suppliers and local supermarkets. If much of the donated items didn’t come to us, it’s highly likely it would have ended up in landfill (even though it’s perfectly fine, and safe to eat!)
Why do items come to us?
There’s lots of reasons why food is donated to the grocery store. The most common reasons include manufacturers packaging mistakes, supermarket errors with ordering, or food ending up too close to or just past its ‘best before’ date for them to sell. Foodbanks also receive large amounts of specific items, so rather than let this go to waste, this is sometimes donated to the grocery, to prevent it being wasted. Some of the items that end up in the grocery store have recently passed their best before dates - but don’t worry, they are still perfectly safe to eat and often taste just as good! We make regular quality checks on items that have passed their ‘best before’ dates, and will never stock anything that has passed it’s ‘use by’ dates. You can find out more the difference between best before and use by dates here. Some items are provided by Sleaford Community Larder, as at times, they receive excess items, which they don’t want to go out of date.
What items do we stock?
We rely mostly on donations from food distributors, supermarkets and food suppliers, and because of that, we won’t always be able to guarantee what items we have in store each time you visit. This shouldn’t be an issue though, as with your membership you’ll be able to do up to four shops per week - meaning you can top up on items during your second visit.
We receive new deliveries most days and you’ll be able to see what food items and other stock we have for you by following us on Facebook, Instagram & Twitter.
Who can access Sleaford Community Grocers?
Anyone can sign up to be a member. Your annual membership fee of £5 & your £6 payment per visit helps us to source food items and cover the transportation costs of our suppliers. As at the end of January 2024 - 80% of our food is purchased. We want everyone to have access to affordable food and collectively reduce food waste. Your £6 shop will give you up to £25 of food value in return. All money we make is invested back into your grocery store. How good is that? Sleaford Community Grocers is a non profit making activity, seeking to give you maximum value at the lowest cost possible.
