Food & More : Oikos-Brigg In Action

25/09/2026

A small Community Pantry update 💚

We wanted to give everyone plenty of notice about two changes to our Community Pantry.

🕓 From our October Pantry, our evening opening will be 4.30pm–6.30pm.

We’ve seen our evening sessions getting busier, so the slightly earlier start will hopefully make the Pantry more accessible for more people.

💷 From January 2027, our recommended Pantry donation will increase from £4 to £5.

There are still three Pantries before the end of this year, and the recommended donation will remain at £4 throughout October, November and December. If anyone is happy to support us prior to January with this incremental increase, then we would also welcome in advance.

We know the cost of living continues to affect everyone, and increasing the donation is not something we have taken lightly. However, those same rising costs are also affecting us as a charity.

We buy a significant amount of the food that goes into our Pantry and, as more people are coming through our doors, we are also needing to buy more stock each month. A typical Pantry basket currently contains around £60–£70 worth of food, so even at £5 we hope it continues to offer really significant value to local households.

The donations we receive from Pantry currently cover less than a third of what it costs us to run it. That extra £1 from January may feel like a small change individually, but across the Pantry it will help us meet a little more of those increasing costs and keep the service sustainable.

Thank you, as always, for supporting Oikos - Brigg and helping us keep affordable food available to our community. 💚

Community Pantry – every 3rd Tuesday

🕙 10am–1pm
🕟 4.30pm–6.30pm from October
📍 67 Wrawby Street, Brigg, DN20 8JE

25/09/2026

A reminder - TODAY is our Friday Citizens Advice North Lincolnshire is now longer... 9.30am - 12.30... ☺️ there's usually a little wait but we have some lovely drinks to keep you refreshed 😋

What is the Friday drop-in for?... The drop-in is a short, focused first conversation with a Citizens Advice adviser. They can:

🌟 listen to what is happening and help identify the issue
🌟 give initial information and advice
🌟 explain what you may be able to do next
🌟 arrange a follow-up telephone call where needed
🌟 book a fuller face-to-face appointment where appropriate (we now have face-to-face appt. availability here at Oikos - Brigg too earlier in the week 🎉 )

The drop-in itself isn’t intended to deal with a complex case from beginning to end. Instead, it gives you a local way into Citizens Advice, so they can understand what you need and get you to the right support.

They can help with issues including benefits, energy bills, debt and money, cost of living, employment and housing.

No appointment is needed for the Friday drop-in. ☺️

21/09/2026

❗ Dates for your diary and a bit of Christmas information ☺️... More details coming in October once Harvest donations are mainly through ☺️... But here's what December is shaping up like!

18/09/2026

❗ Slow cooker courses upcoming funded by Cadent funding through Community VISION ... October is nearly full ☺️

14/09/2026

📢 We’d love to hear from people living, working or volunteering in the smaller villages and rural communities around Brigg.

We’ve created a really short questionnaire to help us understand what’s working well, what the challenges are, and what support could make a difference locally.

It only takes a few minutes to complete — and please do share it with others in rural and micro-rural communities too.

Scan the QR code below to take part 👇... Or visit: https://forms.gle/EMK8k2uum8LoEALi9

14/09/2026

TOMORROW (Tuesday 15 September) is Community Pantry Day 😍 👀... And we have plenty!... We have stocked up our shelves and freezers so have lots of snacks, goodies and frozen food to keep you going!

£4 donation for a full basket of food which is always a lovely generous basket full 😍

We rotate stock throughout the day so there is enough for everyone so we may not always have everything out etc and cannot take requests for specific food if you've seen something on here as we may not have it out at the time or may have already gone ☺

Pop down to our Oikos - Brigg premises between 10am til 1pm or 5pm til 6.30pm ☺... EVERYONE IS WELCOME ☺️

Don't forget you get a toiletry refillable included in your £4 donation from our Oikos shop area too!... And if you happen to forget your container to grab your refillable, we have plenty! ☺

Please can we remind people that this is per household ♥ we have enough food to share out but we do limit it to one per household so if we can ask for this to be respected as one basket is a very good value and we want to make sure everyone can benefit from this ☺... The food Pantry is intended to help everyone, no matter who, top up their monthly food shop and save a little bit of money. If you need more support, we have our Food Bank referrals open all month round that can support you too... So if you do need more help, do ask on Pantry day or other days ☺

Feel free to stop too for a drink and a chat... It might be Pantry day but it's also a lovely social to chat with you all ☺️ and also, please remember we have enough food for throughout the day, so don't feel you have to queue too much.

We also are so pleased to welcome other services to our day Pantry who can help with lots of variety of things... These include...

🌟 10am - 12noon: Free legal advice drop in with Mason Baggott and Garton solicitors

🌟 NL Family will be here to chat all things family hubs and community ☺️

See you then, there is plenty of food and it will last ☺️ we always save food to put out at different times so that everyone gets the opportunity - so there can be different stuff out at different points too ☺️

Everyone welcome ☺️

04/09/2026

💚 Today is National Food Bank Day 💚

And it feels like a really good day to explain why we’re no longer called Brigg Food Bank.

We didn’t change our name because we think food banks aren’t important. Quite the opposite.

Food banks are incredible. They step in when cupboards are empty, when something unexpected happens, when money simply doesn’t stretch far enough – and they are often there at some of the hardest moments in people’s lives.

But increasingly, food banks have become so much more than food.

That’s certainly true here in Brigg.

Yes, we still provide emergency food support. But alongside that you’ll find our Community Pantry, Community Fridge, shared meals, activities, opportunities to meet people, Citizens Advice support, signposting, volunteering, learning and somewhere you can simply come through the door and feel welcome.

That’s why we became Food & More.

The Food is still incredibly important.

The & More is our recognition that sometimes the thing that makes the biggest difference isn’t just what goes into a food parcel.

It might be a conversation.
Some advice.
A shared meal.
Learning something new.
Meeting somebody.
Finding somewhere you belong.
Or getting a little bit of support before things reach crisis point.

So today, on , we’re celebrating every food bank, every volunteer, every donor and every organisation working to make sure people don’t go hungry.

And we’re also celebrating what food banks have grown to become.

💚 Food when it’s needed. And much, much more.

04/09/2026

If you or someone you know in Brigg or the surrounding villages is struggling to afford food, please know that help is available locally. 💙

We’ve recently seen posts asking for food support for people in our community, and we just want to make sure people know that Food & More is here and we can provide emergency food parcels.

Our team is understanding, welcoming and used to supporting people through all sorts of circumstances. There’s no judgement in asking for help.

Our food parcels are well stocked and come in different sizes, from single-person households through to larger families. They’re designed to provide a substantial amount of food rather than just a few emergency items.

We do normally have a two-week period between emergency parcels. That’s there because of the amount of food provided in each parcel — we recognise people may need to top up some fresh or additional items during that time, but the parcel is intended to give meaningful support rather than just get someone through a day or two.

If you see someone locally asking for food help, please share our details with them or encourage them to contact us. We can explain the referral process and help them work out the next step.

📧 [email protected]
📧 [email protected]
📧 [email protected]

And please share this post — sometimes the biggest barrier is simply not knowing that help is here.

We also offer much more support than emergency food too, so do ask ☺️ this is only a small part of what we do ❤️

03/09/2026

Share away - we want to draw attention to a new walk-in mental health service available from the end of the month.

A new mental health crisis support service, The Acorn Centre, will open to the public at midday on Wednesday 30 September 2026. The service will be based at Great Oaks, 97 Ashby High Street, Scunthorpe, DN16 2JX and will provide urgent mental health support for adults aged 18 and over.
Delivered by RDaSH, The Acorn Centre will offer a safe, welcoming environment where people experiencing urgent mental health difficulties can access support when they need it.

What support will be available?

The Acorn Centre will provide:

🌟 24-hour, 7-day-a-week walk-in support
🌟 Mental health support for adults aged 18 and over
🌟 Peer support from people with lived experience
🌟 Quick mental health assessments by NHS professionals
🌟 Emotional support, advice and onward care

A new chapter in mental health support is coming to North Lincolnshire, opening at midday on Wednesday 30 September.

The Acorn Centre will bring together the lived experience of peer support workers and volunteers with the expertise of NHS mental health professionals to provide emotional support, mental health assessments, practical help, advice and follow up support in a safe and welcoming place.

Look out for more information over the coming weeks.

17/08/2026

TOMORROW (Tuesday 18 August) is Community Pantry Day 😍 👀... And we have plenty!... We have stocked up our shelves and freezers so have lots of snacks, goodies and frozen food to keep you going - especially families with children off for summer!!

❗ Polite notice - with it being holiday season, we have less volunteers in tomorrow, so we ask you to be slightly more patient than usual if there are any slight delays. We have an amazing team, so don't expect it necessarily but want to just make everyone aware in advance. Thank you!

£4 donation for a full basket of food which is always a lovely generous basket full 😍

We rotate stock throughout the day so there is enough for everyone so we may not always have everything out etc and cannot take requests for specific food if you've seen something on here as we may not have it out at the time or may have already gone ☺

Pop down to our Oikos - Brigg premises between 10am til 1pm or 5pm til 6.30pm ☺... EVERYONE IS WELCOME ☺️

Don't forget you get a toiletry refillable included in your £4 donation from our Oikos shop area too!... And if you happen to forget your container to grab your refillable, we have plenty! ☺

Please can we remind people that this is per household ♥ we have enough food to share out but we do limit it to one per household so if we can ask for this to be respected as one basket is a very good value and we want to make sure everyone can benefit from this ☺... The food Pantry is intended to help everyone, no matter who, top up their monthly food shop and save a little bit of money. If you need more support, we have our Food Bank referrals open all month round that can support you too... So if you do need more help, do ask on Pantry day or other days ☺

Feel free to stop too for a drink and a chat... It might be Pantry day but it's also a lovely social to chat with you all ☺️ and also, please remember we have enough food for throughout the day, so don't feel you have to queue too much.

We also are so pleased to welcome other services to our day Pantry who can help with lots of variety of things... These include...

🌟 10am - 12noon: Free legal advice drop in with Mason Baggott and Garton solicitors

🌟 NL Family will be here to chat all things family hubs and community ☺️

See you then, there is plenty of food and it will last ☺️ we always save food to put out at different times so that everyone gets the opportunity - so there can be different stuff out at different points too ☺️

Everyone welcome ☺️