Professor Paddy Gray OBE visited the Sandyhills Larder and Ruchazie Community Pantry.

Based on the ground floor of a Wheatley Homes Glasgow multi-storey at Balbeggie Street, the Sandyhills Larder opened in July this year to help residents access discount food.

The Community Pantry in Ruchazie has been open since 2020 to support the local neighbourhood.

Wheatley Foundation, the charitable arm of Wheatley Group, spends £6 million a year supporting thousands of disadvantaged or vulnerable people by tackling social exclusion and alleviating the impacts of poverty.

The Foundation supported more than 23,000 people in Wheatley communities in the last financial year, including creating 802 jobs, training, and apprenticeship places.

Professor Gray is one of the UK housing sector’s most eminent figures and is regarded as an authority on housing strategy and social policy, both nationally and internationally.

Professor Gray said: “The services offered in Sandyhills and Ruchazie are simply life-changing. With so many people feeling the impact of the cost-of-living crisis, these services help our tenants and, in the case of the Ruchazie Community Pantry, the wider community access food at a discounted cost.

“The concept behind both is very simple, but it works and is making a big difference to the lives of families across Glasgow.”

Community larders are one of a range of wraparound support services supported by Wheatley Group to help tenants, including emergency food supplies, access to furniture as well as free expert welfare benefits and fuel advice.

Sandyhills is the second community larder opened thanks to a partnership between Wheatley Homes Glasgow and Good Food Scotland. The first food project launched in Kennishead last year.

Customers at Kennishead and Sandyhills pay an annual fee of £12 and buy items based on points, with items heavily discounted and significantly cheaper than supermarkets and high street stores.

The larder includes fresh fruit and vegetables, meat, cheese, bread, baby food, nappies as well as frozen and tinned food.

Wheatley Foundation is working with the Scottish Pantry Network, the team behind the Ruchazie Community Pantry, to support a similar scheme at the Linkes in Knightswood.