Hundreds sign up to lifeline pantry

HUNDREDS of people have signed up to a community store amid soaring fuel and energy costs.

A total of 300 new members have joined Pollok Pantry in the past two months.

Pollok Pantry, opened nearly a year ago, allows customers to purchase between 10 and 15 grocery items for just £2.50.

Members pay £1 per month and can shop up to four times a week, with free sanitary items also provided.

Manager Tracy Galligan, 52, said the pantry had seen a huge increase in demand as the cost of living rises, with up to 90 customers a day coming in.

Ms Galligantracey, who works at the pantry along with five volunteers, said one user was reduced to tears after being made redundant.

She said supermarkets prices were “outrageous” and there was a real need for the lifeline pantry. Ms Galligan, from Barrhead, East Renfrewshire, said: “We’ve seen a big increase since energy prices and petrol prices have gone up.”