Top Up Shops in Ipswich play a vital role for communities outside of just offering a £2 bag of food, new research has shown.
A report by the University of Suffolk said the community project, run by the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, has filled a gap in public sector provision and even led to new communities being formed.
The Top Up Shop Ipswich scheme is run at 10 churches and allows those struggling to make ends meet fill up a bag with food and supplies for £2 once per week, without the need for referral.
According to the report, the scheme caters to between 700 and 1,000 people per week.
The research found that one bag could provide ‘up to £40 of food goods and supplies’ for seven days.
Reverend Lawrence Carey, who helped form the service, said the shops were about more than just food – they ensured dignity and agency.
Dr Mark Manning, on behalf of the research team, said: “While Top Up Shops in Ipswich are by no means the only services delivering vital food and support locally, it is clear that Top Up Shops are considered to be highly effective in supporting those in need within their communities and may be considered exemplars for the ways in which they do.
“Both locally and nationally, challenges remain over the cost of living, including the cost of food and energy, meaning the findings of the research remain as pertinent now as they did when Top Up Shops formed during the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The research team began the first phase of their work last spring by visiting all 10 sites over a 12 week period.
As part of this, researchers observed operations over 40 hours and conducted interviews with 20 people who used service across a variety of age groups, from 18 to 70+.
During interviews, some users said the food given was ‘enough to feed a small family’, the report said.
“There is little doubt that the cost-of-living crisis has become the main driver behind demand for most participants who use Top Up Shop,” the report continued.
Data used in the report said that 20 of Ipswich’s 83 neighbourhoods were in the top 20 per cent most deprived in the country – with 14.1 per cent of the population described having low income.
However, other interviewees felt the state should be more actively involved in supporting services such as the Top Up Shops.
The data suggested the scheme also helped reduce loneliness and promoted a sense of social cohesion to the point where ‘new communities were visibly being created across the sites’.
Observations also found some would queue from 6am, the report said.
The second phase of research began in February with a string of workshops to discuss the sustainability of the scheme and how learning from the case study could inform its development and engagement.
In addition, wider strategic co-ordination of funding and logistics could boost long-term sustainability of Top Up Shops, the research showed.
They could also ‘help address’ three of the four priorities outlined in Suffolk County Council’s Tackling Poverty in Suffolk strategy from 2022, those being emergency support, mitigating the impacts of poverty and preventing poverty.
The report said: “Without raising any criticism of local authorities, it was a perception that, along with other similar services in Ipswich and elsewhere, Top Up Shops were delivering a service which is demonstrably filling a gap in public sector provision while self-funding to do so.”
Reverend Carey said: “By sharing God’s love with our communities, in real and relevant ways we have seen people’s lives be transformed, which is truly humbling.”
The full report, titled ‘When the going gets tough, the good get going’, can be found here.
Regarding the scheme, Reverend Martin Seeley, the bishop of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich, believed the scheme was a ‘remarkable response’ for people who needed help feeding themselves and their families.
He said: “I have seen first-hand how they are not just sources of affordable food, but places of support and community.
“I am so grateful to the volunteers – some of whom have themselves been customers – who are making a difference in people’s lives on so many levels.”
