Cost of Living Initiatives

Food parcels are discreetly packaged and provide you with emergency food for a minimum of 5 days. Our parcels are not designed to meet long-term need so if you do require further support visit our Guild Advice Request Form.

A typical parcel includes a range of long-life products such as;

• Cereal
• Soup
• Pasta
• Rice
• Tinned Tomatoes/Pasta Sauce
• Lentils, beans and pulses
• Tinned fish/meat
• Tinned Veg/Fruit
• Tea/Coffee
• UHT milk
• Biscuits
• Fruit Juice
• Toiletries

Do you provide bags when I pick up my food parcel?

We ask that you bring your own bags for life, or a backpack to collect your parcel. This supports our sustainability goals and helps us keep costs low so we can assist more students. If you’re unable to bring a bag however, we can provide one for you.

You can complete our online form to request a collection slot and a member of our team will be in touch shortly.

If we have allocated you with a time to collect a food parcel but you are no longer able to collect/make that time, please email Community Pantry to let us know as soon as possible so it does not prevent someone else from accessing the service.

Community Pantry is in the Guild of Students. You can access us via the staircase next to the Guild Officers’ Office, head up to the top floor and we are just down the corridor from the Hairdressers (see signs).

For disabled access, take the lift located next to Subway to the top floor of the Guild, and follow the corridor all the way round towards the Hairdressers, and we are opposite the gender-neutral toilets.

We rely on voluntary contributions to fund Community Pantry. If you would like to donate food, you can deposit long-life items in the baskets situated around campus. Locations are as follows;

• The Guild
• Sports & Fitness Centre
• Medical School
• Computer Science
• University Centre
• Bramall
• The Chaplaincy
• Shackleton Reception (The Vale)

Some of the products within your food parcel may be close to, or past the ‘Best Before’ or ‘Best Before End’ date. The product(s) is/are safe to consume, providing any on-pack handling, storage and usage instructions are followed. All products have been visually inspected to confirm they are of sufficient quality and that critical packaging integrity is maintained (e.g. an outer cardboard box could be damaged, but the primary inner packaging is intact).

Please refer to the table below for guidelines on length of product extension and checks required to determine products are sufficient quality.

Click to enlarge

NB: These are guidelines and the table is not exhaustive.

* Sample packs may need to be opened to carry out a visual inspection (e.g. for mould).
 ** If items have been stored frozen at the Food Business Operator (FBO) in accordance with on-pack instructions, they will be safe to eat for months after the ‘Best Before End’ date. In some cases (for example frozen pork cuts, minced pork products, pizzas with ham and pepperoni, kippers and mackerel) it would be advisable to confirm any potential to donate food after the BBE date with the manufacturer (as these products are more likely to be affected by changes in taste even when frozen). The star-rating storage life reflects the length of time the product is likely to remain in good condition. Eventually, even well-frozen food will deteriorate and become unpalatable, whilst still remaining safe to eat.
 *** Developed in conjunction with the British Soft Drinks Association

These guidelines are strictly for products with a ‘Best Before’/ ‘Best Before End’ expiry date, and not to be used for products labelled with a ‘Use By’ date. All other labelling is to be compliant to European Food Information to Consumers Regulation No 1169/2011 (FIC).

The food redistribution organisation agrees to take all necessary measures to ensure the safe and hygienic storage, handling and transport of this surplus food, including visual inspections for quality, damage and packaging integrity, before redistributing this food to other organisations or end recipients.