'We couldn’t be prouder': Eastfield Community Shop celebrates first anniversary

Alison Hume MP and special guests from the community, joined McCain Foods, the UK’s largest manufacturer of frozen potato products, and Community Shop, a social enterprise that is part of the UK’s largest redistributor, Company Shop Group, to celebrate the shop’s impact on the community in the last year and showcase the dedication of members who have progressed through the developments courses.

The Eastfield store provides local people with the opportunity to access deeply discounted products which have been donated by major retailers, brands, and manufacturers as they have been deemed surplus and may have otherwise gone to waste.

McCain has, and continues to, fully fund the store, through product donations worth over £1.3m to date.

Revenue raised in the store is re-invested back into the local area through the store’s Community Hub, which offers personal development programmes tailored to the needs of each member. 

These programmes range from cookery clubs and home budgeting, to interview skills and business courses. 

An Eastfield Community Shop member said: “I’ve really enjoyed each club and made friends, I look forward to coming to the clubs each week and I’m really happy. Everyone is so friendly, my feelings of anxiety kind of stopped when I knew everyone was going to be nice to me.”

The store also houses a Community Kitchen, offering low-cost wholesome hot meals, with children eating for free every day.   

In its first year of trading, the Community Shop has had a notable impact on the local community, not only through its products but also its programmes.

To date over 2,500 hub courses and cookery clubs have been completed by members and the Community Kitchen has served over 9,000 free kids’ meals

Alison Hume, Labour MP for Scarborough and Whitby said: “I was delighted to catch up with everyone at Eastfield Community Shop and to join them in celebrating their first anniversary.

“The shop plays such an important role in supporting the local community offering discounted products, the opportunity to get involved in personal development programmes and a wonderful Community Kitchen where children can eat for free every day.”

Jillian Moffatt, Regional President GB&I at McCain, said: “We’re incredibly proud to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Eastfield Community Shop.

“McCain GB has called Eastfield home for over 50 years, and it’s an honour to partner with Community Shop on this initiative.

“We're delighted to see the impact the hub, store and kitchen has had in the local community in its first year, and we look forward to continuing our support for years to come."

Gary Stott, Executive Chairman at Community Shop, said: “We couldn’t be prouder of the positive impact Community Shop has had on the local community in Eastfield.

“Since opening a year ago, we’ve delivered over 1,300 development workshops, ran over 1,200 cook clubs and saved our members £1,453,000 on their shopping.

“At Community Shop, we aim to build stronger individuals and more confident communities by providing a hand-up not a hand-out.

“The positive impact on this community couldn’t have been achieved without our partnership with McCain, and we hope to continue this impact for many years to come.”