Courses and support
The Community Grocery is about more than food. Members have access to free courses, classes and events running in store too. Whether someone’s looking to learn a new skill or meet new people, there’s plenty happening.
Keeping families fed is important but we also recognise that people need professional support, the chance to learn important skills and a community around them to change their circumstances for the long term. The churches who host each grocery work with a range of corporate and charity partners to deliver the courses that are right for their members. These have included Christians Against Poverty, Alpha, Redeeming our Communities and many more.
Many Groceries also offer special events to help families navigate the cost of living, like school uniform pop-ups or holiday lunch drop-ins.
Example classes running at Community Groceries include:
What’s cooking
Members practice making a dish from scratch using ingredients from the Grocery and learn how to cook delicious meals on a budget. Classes are taught by volunteers or brand ambassadors like our friends at the Flava People who donate 3p from every sale of their heritage brand.
CAP Money Course
Managing your money, getting out of debt and learning how to make simple budgets is life-changing. The experts at Christians Against Poverty (CAP) deliver their money coaching at many of our Community Groceries.
One-to-one support
Sometimes we all need someone to listen and help. Many of our stores offer 1-2-1 support so members can talk about the challenges they’re facing in confidence with trained listeners. For example, partner organisations like Redeeming Our Communities (ROC) provide mental health support drop-ins at our Sharston and Wythenshawe groceries .
Alpha
The Alpha course is a chance to ask questions about the meaning of life, faith and Christianity. The course runs for a few weeks and each session starts with a meal, followed by a short video, time to chat about the topic and ask any questions.