New and inviting Linton pantry opens

LINTON Shire Hall tenants Linton Community Inc have officially opened their new Community Pantry spaces, with the ribbon cut by Federal Member for Ballarat Catherine King.

The Pantry’s Kylie Turville said the initiative is now based in the old nurse’s and waiting rooms, with lots of storage and refrigeration, and will be open at least five days a week.

“We have fantastic shelves which the council have left behind and spaces for fruit and veggies, so it feels a lot more welcoming,” she said.

“We can have a much larger number of products in an easily accessible space on supermarket-style shelves, and the fridge is a big thing for us because we could never offer butter and cheese before.

“It’s all self-service as we’re very big on people being able to be anonymous. People can take what they need, and pay what they can, and we’re setting up our second room for confidential talks around issues they’re having with food and money.”

The pantry originally launched six years ago in a former town café and moved to the Shire Hall’s atrium temporarily just before the pandemic. Warren Bowen and Bennita Hough were its founders.

Ms Turville said the Pantry is fully self-funded, however they sometimes receive Shire grants to action bigger projects.

Ms King highlighted food insecurity as a big issue throughout the Ballarat electorate and for that reason, said pantries like Linton’s are key to small communities.