It is now one year since the East Malling Community Supermarket first opened its doors.

Since then it has been visited more than 1,700 times by local shoppers and in addition volunteers have made 357 deliveries to those unable to shop in person.

Shoppers are able to buy their groceries at heavily reduced prices, usually less than half what they would pay on the High Street, with a tin of baked beans, for example, costing 20p.

The supermarket is housed within the East Malling Centre in Chapman Way and is open on Tuesdays, to those who have paid £3.50 to become a registered shopper.

There is no geographical restriction on who can register.

It's shelves are filled with products that would otherwise have gone to landfill supplied via the national food redistribution network FareShare, with additional donations from Morrisons at East Malling, Asda at Kings Hill, and Tesco at Lunsford Park.

The shop is coordinated and managed by staff from the centre, a registered a charity, and manned by around eight volunteers.

The centre's chairman Liz Simpson, said “There are now twice as many foodbanks in the UK as there are McDonald’s stores.

"The financial impact of the pandemic is still being felt within our local community, and recently we have witnessed a sharp increase in the number of people in need of our support – many of whom now find that their wages simply don’t cover the rising costs of living.

"We are grateful to FareShare and our local supermarkets for their ongoing product donations, and to the wonderful volunteers who make this service possible.”

Office manager Katie Smith said: "With the easing of Covid restrictions. you might think demand would tail off, but the reverse has been true.

"Rising fuel costs, inflation; it's been one thing after another, and we now have more customers than ever."

'Suddenly they find they have four more mouths to feed'

The latest surge in demand has been as result of families taking in Ukranian refugees.

"Suddenly they find they have four more mouths to feed, so they come to us," said Mrs Smith.

The range of goods available is extensive, but variable. Mrs Smith said: "We might be given a range of goods that have been re-branded, or products that are perfectly fine except there's been a printing mistake on the labels.

"Recently we were given a lot of deli items because a supermarket's head office had by mistake sent them to a branch that didn't have a deli counter - they ended up with us!

"Obviously what we are given varies every week, so what we have to sell does too!"

The EMC Community Supermarket first opened on May 25, last year.

The East Malling Centre incorporates a café, hall, outdoor play area and woodlands.

The centre encourages courses and projects that will benefit the community, offering opportunities for training and social development.

For more information, call 01732 846314.