The founder of St Albans Community Pantry has shared her inspiring six-year journey and credited all its "wonderful volunteers" for her Pride of Britain Award.
During lockdown, lost work and falling incomes left some people struggling to afford food and other essentials.
St Albans mum Raihaanah Ahmed saw the need and asked how she could help people suffering from "food insecurity".
Raihaanah started by assisting those in her neighbourhood.
"It just felt like helping your neighbour out during what was completely extraordinary times," she explained.
"It was all word of mouth, there was nothing organised at all."
The initiative grew organically, becoming bigger through meeting those who needed support - including a woman who was living off cat food and a veteran who resorted to eating sugar.
These experiences helped Raihaanah realise the scale of the issue.
She has since built St Albans Community Pantry, which supports more than 600 people a week with food boxes, community meals and other help.
After six years of work, she was named ITV Pride of Britain’s Regional Fundraiser of the Year.
She told The Herts Advertiser: "I'm genuinely really proud about this bonkers idea in my head... people have really got behind it.
"I call myself an accidental activist because it was not planned at all, it definitely was not in my life thoughts."
Since its humble beginnings out of Raihaanah's home, the St Albans Community Pantry has always worked to protect people’s dignity.
She said: “What I found in other communities is that people are a lot more willing to step forward and say, 'I need help', as opposed to places like St Albans, where there is this hidden poverty. Well, it's not poverty, it's food insecurity.
"You could have a really nice house, but now you can't afford to keep it running and you can't afford the maintenance costs, so obviously bills get paid first and then whatever you have leftover is limited for your food budget.
"We've kind of disrupted the notion that everybody in St Albans is a strong family with two cars, goes on holidays four times a year and has a house that's over the one million threshold. Not everybody's in that situation."
As demand grew, Raihaanah contacted the district food bank and other food-aid organisations to identify people's needs.
One major gap was access to fresh fruit, vegetables and raw ingredients, rather than just long-life food.
Another problem was mobility, with some people unable to travel to collect what they needed.
"All of these experiences helped develop the aid that we set out to provide," Raihaanah said.
Boxes of food were initially packed at the Abbey Theatre during lockdown, before the founder self-funded a commercial unit off Valley Road.
The organisation moved to its current premises at Spencer Hall, High Street, Sandridge, in January 2026.
Explaining what makes the community pantry different, Raihaanah said: "I like to think of it as like we're opening our kitchen and our fridges and our cupboards to everybody and everyone's welcome to come along and take what they need and share what they can.
"We're not just charity, you're definitely part of our community and you're valued as much as everybody else.
"If you feel seen, then it feels like a helping hand from a friend as opposed to a charity hand out."
What began with the founder and her two children has grown into a team of around 100 unpaid volunteers.
Raihaanah said: "I couldn't do it alone because it's impossible to impact 600 people a week on my own. That's just physically impossible.
"It is 100 per cent a team effort and this award is shared."
Asked if she felt any personal pride, Raihaanah said: "It feels surreal to be recognised on this regional level across London and home counties. It's really exciting.
“I love the morale boost it's given the volunteers as well.”
The organisation currently supports around 150 people a week with emergency food-aid boxes. All the boxes are catered to dietary requirements and or religious beliefs.
It has 46 partner agencies making referrals, including schools, GP practices, hospitals, police and other charities.
Its community fridge attracts around 40 to 70 people at each of its two daily sessions. It is open to everyone, with no vouchers or referral forms required.
Additionally, the pantry collects surplus food from 26 food outlets across St Albans, Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City.
The organisation also operates a “bread buddy” scheme, distributing surplus bread and pastries through community groups.
Overall, the pantry provides three free community meals a week using surplus and fresh food from its pair of allotments.
Raihaanah welcomed the recognition but made clear that demand for the organisation’s services remains high.
"We do have a waiting list and it would be great to get people off the waiting list," she concluded.
"It'd be so great to be able to say this is what's happening for the next three years and not just focus on firefighting specific issues, but rather just serving the overall community."
Raihaanah asks those who want to help to keep an eye out for fundraisers or possible spare some time to volunteer.
To find out more visit https://stalbanscommunitypantry.org/
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