Penarth scheme to reduce food waste and support local community launched

The Vale of Glamorgan Council’s housing department has helped establish a Food Pod in Penarth, offering residents tinned and perishable goods, toiletries and hygiene products on a pay-as you-feel basis.

Working in partnership with volunteers from Helping Hands and the STAR Residents Association, the pod is located in the St Luke’s estate.

It is open on Mondays and Fridays between 2pm and 4pm and is designed to tackle the issue of food waste, supporting local communities that have faced major challenges during the pandemic.

The Food Pod is part of the Council’s Clean Slate Neighbourhood programme, a two-year scheme to make this area of Penarth cleaner, greener, healthier and better connected.

Cllr Lis Burnett, Vale of Glamorgan Council Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Education, said: “Many people have faced huge challenges since the coronavirus crisis struck and as a Council it’s important we step up to provide support in any way we can.

“No-one should go hungry and I hope that this initiative will help ensure that does not happen in Penarth.

“The Food Pod offers a range of goods, with people asked to pay only what they can afford. There are often ingredients available for a number of meals as well as household basics.

“Volunteers from Penarth’s Helping Hands and the STAR Residents Association have played a big part in getting this scheme off the ground and I’d like to thank them for those efforts.”