Life-giving Groceries

Walking up to The Grocery Store in Cwmbran – you could be mistaken in thinking that it’s just a little pop-up convenience store set up by Victory Church to serve the local community. But step inside, meet the volunteers and find out about the heart of love that inspired its origins, and you’ll be blown away.

Luke’s Story

The Grocery Store acts as a step up from a food bank, “a hand-up, not a hand-out”, in a deprived area of South Wales. It enables families to make a bi-weekly shop for just £4 that gives them a bounty of cupboard essentials, eggs, milk, fresh fruit and veg—literally putting bread on their tables and enabling them to feed their families.

But it’s more than just affordable food. Our Hope In Action correspondent, Beth Parkinson, met with volunteers who make a real difference to the people coming through the doors.

Luke is a graduate of the Hope Centre Rehab programme, also run by Victory Church. Part of the rehab programme is to enable participants to volunteer in their café and the Grocery Store to learn skills they can take with them into employment areas upon graduation. But it also gives them a sense of community. Luke knows the value of people being together and eating together.

“What I like is about intimacy and relationship and how that revolves around food and all other sorts.”

As people enter the store, they’re not just getting a bag of groceries but also encountering God’s love.

“The many people that see Christ when they speak to me is just amazing,” Luke says.

“As people enter the store, they’re not just getting a bag of groceries but also encountering God’s love.”

Carole’s Story

In an age of increasing isolation, and technology reducing our need for human interaction, the Grocery Store is having a profound effect on individuals within the community. It lets people know that they are seen, have value, and are loved, through the simplest of things, by people who remember their name.

Carole recounts a story of the impact the Grocery Store has already had on Lillian, a shy, withdrawn customer, barely able to make eye-contact, who, through the love and attention of the volunteers, blossomed in her confidence. All of it starting with something as simple as Carole remembering her name.

None of this would be possible without the ongoing support of our partners, allowing us to support a project of real value – investing in community and changing lives. Thank you to all our partners; we are so grateful for you.

“They are seen, have value, and are loved, through the simplest of things, by people who remember their name.”