Gina English from the SEK Community Food Shop in Chatham says the store is open to everyone

A new community supermarket offering access to affordable and healthy food has opened in a Kent shopping centre.

The store run by SEK Community Food Shop welcomed the public to its home on the first floor of The Pentagon Centre in Chatham.

Gina English from SEK says the shop is open to all as "in addition to supporting people with food insecurity, people will also be able get wraparound support from us, help with employment, looking at CVs and interview skills. We're also going to help people with budgeting and money management and signposting to other local services".

Initial funding to set up the supermarket was provided by Medway Council through the Crisis and Resilience Fund.

Shoppers can walk straight into the social supermarket, with no prior booking required, to access a wealth of budget-friendly groceries, including a £1 fruit and vegetable bag.

Cost are kept low as the store redistributes surplus food to reduce waste, helping to protect the environment at the same time.

English said: "We've had Ramsgate for about three years, Ashford just for just over a year and across the two shops in the last year alone we saw 55,500 transactions and we were able to save 170 tonnes of perfectly good food from going to waste, so they do work."

Rod Taffs and Shirley Graves from Chatham were among the first customers into the newly opened community supermarket

Some of the first to experienced the store were Shirley Graves and her partner Rod Taffs who have already filled their basket with bargains.

"People want to come down and see what they've got, it's amazing," says Graves.

"I've got a box of 20 samosas for £1.50 and a big huge bag of chicken for £6. Times are quite tight at the moment, being pensioners, it's cheap and the chicken is amazing."

"That's going to do us three or four meals," adds Taffs.

Medway Council leader, Vince Maple, said: "I think most people across Kent and Medway would want to see food not going to waste, so the ability to have good quality food at a reasonable price, helping not just our families and individuals on low incomes but helping all families has got to be a good thing."

The shop also has a confidential, soundproofed office pod at the back of the store where customers can seek personal advice and guidance.

The SEK Community Food Shop in The Pentagon Centre, Chatham, is open Monday to Saturday between 10:00 and 18:00.

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