Developed in partnership with Good Food Scotland, the shop aims to sell produce at prices up to 30% lower than the nearest supermarket.

The opening has also been recognised in the House of Commons through an Early Day Motion tabled by Glasgow South MP Gordon McKee. The motion congratulates the community shop partnership and highlights its role in providing affordable, nutritious food in an area without a local supermarket.

Castlemilk residents have campaigned for a full-size supermarket for the past three years, and Ardenglen stresses that the community shop is not a replacement.

“Local residents’ limited access to fresh, high-quality food is well documented. We hope the new shop will help address this until a full supermarket can be attracted to Castlemilk,” said Ardenglen’s director of customer services, Suzanne Casey.

“The Lived Experience Group, established by Ardenglen with our partners Craigdale, Cassiltoun and North View Housing Associations, continues to press for a supermarket by lobbying local and national politicians and officials.”

The shop replaces the pantry model, under which residents paid a fixed fee for around 12 available food items. Residents have played a key role in shaping the new shop to ensure it meets local needs.

“The pantry model was not sustainable in the long term, with limited choice and often poor quality. The new not-for-profit shop will offer a much wider range of discounted goods, including household products,” said Suzanne.

Scott McFarlane, director of Good Food Scotland, said: “We’re delighted to be working with Ardenglen to bring the community shop to Castlemilk. This is our tenth space across Glasgow, with more than 4,000 members now using our shops across the city.

“We’re really excited about this partnership and what we can do together, building on the work of the pantry to give local people more choice and help their money go further. We know how hard residents have campaigned for a supermarket in Castlemilk and fully support that campaign. In the meantime, we want to play our part in making good food more affordable and accessible in Castlemilk.”

Funding is in place until the end of March. Ardenglen and Good Food Scotland will seek further funding to sustain the service over the longer term. 

The community shop is based in the Birgidale Complex and will initially open on Wednesdays and Thursdays, from 10am to 3pm. It is currently looking for new volunteers. Anyone interested can contact Fiona McGovern at community@ardenglen.org.uk or call 07969182330.