A Food Pod set up on St Luke's Avenue last year has continued to develop into a central hub for the local community with further support from local businesses.

Residents can currently use the Food Pod on a 'pay-as-you-feel' basis to collect food, hygiene products and toiletries, and additional features such as WiFi will be installed soon.

Cllr Lis Burnett, deputy leader and cabinet member for Education and Regeneration, and a team of volunteers decided to use an existing pod within the St Luke's Avenue community to kickstart the initiative. "Although very small, there are pockets of deprivation in Penarth," said Cllr Burnett.

"All the way through the pandemic, we've been looking at all sorts of figures and information about the overall economic impact of Covid and one area, around the St Luke's Avenue estate, where the levels of poverty had doubled within the first six months of the pandemic."

She continued: "There was also an increase in the number of people receiving Universal Credit payments. We also knew by looking at other data, that it had brought a lot of tension to that community, with greater levels of anti-social behaviour."

The initiative was originally set up in August 2021 as part of the Clean Slate Neighbourhood programme and mirrors a previous scheme in two primary schools in Barry and Cadoxton. "When we first opened, it was such a huge success," said Cllr Burnett.

"The impact was enormous, and people came from all over Penarth. Some money became available in September for us to expand the scheme and, by December, we had installed a purpose-built pod next to the original one."

A fridge, shelving, a counter, and a microwave have now been added to the Food Pod and Cllr Burnett will soon introduce an outdoor seating area to provide more of a community feel for people to stop and chat.

Drop-in sessions also take place at the Food Pod, such as one-on-one chats with housing and benefits officers. "Ultimately, we're looking to tie-in with the library and get Wi-Fi installed," said Cllr Burnett.

"We can then potentially do other things like adult community learning and story times. The food pod has made a massive difference to the community."

The Food Pod is open three days a week, on Monday and Fridays between 14:00 – 16:00 and on Wednesdays between 15:30 – 17:30.

Most of the food is provided by a subscription service via FareShare routed through the Vale of Glamorgan council, in addition to donations from local businesses.

An official opening of the Food Pod is scheduled for March and will be opened by Jane Hutt, minister for Social Justice.