The STAR Project

Name

The STAR Project

Legal name

STAR Project

Website

https://star-project.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community and Social Services

NAICS

Community Food Services (624210), Community Food and Housing, and Emergency and Other Relief Services (6242)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAAAD

Food Assistance & Nutrition Relief (Emergency Feeding)

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Humanitarian Aid & Disaster Relief

SECONDARYHLAJAKAH

Nutrition & Food Security (Global Health) NGOs

Healthcare & Life Sciences/Public Health, Government & Regulators/Global Health & Development Agencies (NGOs/Multilaterals)

Keywords

• Community development services
• Food insecurity support
• Social wellbeing programmes
• Poverty alleviation charity
• Creative therapeutic workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

Paisley

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: STAR Project is a registered charity (SC028133) funded primarily through grants from public and charitable bodies including The National Lottery Community Fund, Renfrewshire Council, Scottish Government, Henry Smith Charity, and others.
2. Donations: The organisation receives individual donations, including text-to-donate campaigns and charity events (e.g., Paolo Nutini charity gig in August 2024).
3. Social Enterprise - Pantry Plus: Pantry Plus is a heavily subsidised community food shop operating at least 40% cheaper than the cheapest supermarket. Revenue supports the Community Fridge and food insecurity operations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The STAR Project delivers a wraparound suite of free and heavily subsidised community services to Renfrewshire residents, including dignified food provision (Community Fridge and Pantry Plus), volunteer shopping (STAR Shoppers), wellbeing support, befriending, creative and therapeutic workshops, toddler groups (Wee STARs), young men's groups, men's sheds, and citizen-led advocacy panels. The model is universal, non-stigmatising, and trauma-informed, funded primarily through grants and donations with a small social-enterprise revenue stream from Pantry Plus.

Product overview

The STAR Project is a community organization (not a technology company) offering a unified wraparound service model focused on building safer, more connected, and resilient communities in Renfrewshire. Their services include food provision (Community Fridge, Pantry Plus, STAR Shoppers), wellbeing support (counselling, 1:1 support, befriending), creative and therapeutic programs (creative workshops, ApArt, Wee STARs), and community engagement initiatives (Drop-In, Shortroods Young Men's Group, Paisley Men's Shed, RenFairShire, Neu Narrative). All services are interconnected through a person-centred, trauma-informed approach using creativity, culture, and play as conduits for positive change.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Community Fridge A stigma-free food provision service that tackles food insecurity and reduces food waste by providing free food access to community members in need in Renfrewshire.
• Pantry Plus A subsidised community food shop selling food at least 40% cheaper than the cheapest supermarket, designed to transition people off free food dependency and build resilience.
• STAR Shoppers A volunteer-based shopping service where volunteers purchase groceries on behalf of shielded or self-isolating community members, providing choice and dignity in food access.
• Drop-In Universal community support sessions providing access to services, advice, and peer support in a welcoming environment at 12-14 Wallace Street, Paisley.
• Wee STARs A toddler group providing early years activities and support for families with pre-school children in Renfrewshire.
• Shortroods Young Men's Group A fortnightly group for young men aged 16-25 providing safe activities, meals, and stigma-free peer support in the Shortroods area.
• Paisley Men's Shed A space for men from across Renfrewshire to meet, share skills, and support each other through community connection.
• Wellbeing Support Emotional health support and daily living assistance recognising everyone's right to thrive, including counselling and 1:1 support, with 13,002 wellbeing engagements in 2025.
• Creative Workshops Art, therapeutic, and creative workshops facilitating self-expression, reflection, and community building through culture and play, with 1,592 creativity engagements in 2025.
• Neu Narrative A three-tiered lived experience project for parents and carers of neurodivergent children in Renfrewshire, including a peer panel, creative therapeutic workshops, and training for multi-sector agencies.
• RenFairShire A citizen-led panel initiative holding local power accountable through community action to tackle inequality in Renfrewshire, recruited and supported by STAR Project for Renfrewshire Council.
• ApArt A community-based therapeutic arts intervention providing creative opportunities for reconnection and reflection during the post-pandemic transition, led with artist Rachel Mimiec.
• Healthy, Wealthy & Wise A resilience-based initiative teaching community members to cook from scratch, providing videos, cookbooks, and ingredients to foster food independence.
• Befriending Volunteer-led one-to-one support connecting isolated individuals with befrienders for positive relationships and community integration.
• Cost of Living Crisis Support Weekly workshops addressing the cost of living crisis through discussion, creative activities, protest, and practical support including blankets, hot water bottles, and gas/electricity vouchers.
• STAR Project Glenburn Satellite Drop-In A Tuesday afternoon Drop-In at Glenburn Community Centre expanding STAR Project's wraparound services to the Glenburn area of Paisley, complementing the main Paisley base.

Quantifiable outcome

• 7,222 unique individuals supported through 20,055 engagements in 2025
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Paolo NutiniminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 August 2024Paisley-born musician announced a charity gig at Paisley Town Hall on 6 August 2024, donating proceeds to STAR Project and Médecins Sans Frontières. The text-to-donate campaign (text PAOLO to 84903) generated entries to win tickets, raising vital funds and significant publicity.
• Renfrewshire CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Long-standing partnership for community development, stigma reduction training, and co-delivery of the Renfrewshire Stigma Campaign. Renfrewshire Council is a key statutory partner and funder.
• Local artist Davidt DunlopminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Engaged to translate the Fairer Renfrewshire Panel's sessions into artwork and a zine, adding a creative element to make workshops more accessible and visually document the panel's work.
• Renfrewshire Carers CentrecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Key partner in the Neu Narrative project, offering 1-1 support for carers, funding for breaks, and access to peer support groups for parents and carers of neurodivergent children.
• Autism Connections (Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership)minorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 January 2023Partner for the second stage of Neu Narrative, reviewing and enhancing existing Autism Connections training based on Panel feedback and learning from creative workshops.
• Julie Lin (Celebrity Chef)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2022Collaborated with Zero Waste Scotland and STAR on the CAN-paign, visiting Pantry Plus and the Community Fridge to share tips and recipes for cooking with canned goods.
• Renfrewshire Council (Fairer Renfrewshire Sub-committee)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 August 2022Renfrewshire Council selected STAR Project to recruit and support a citizen panel to tackle inequality and the Cost of Living Crisis, building on the Council's Tackling Poverty, Social Renewal, and Alcohol and Drug Change programmes.
• Poverty AllianceminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting Partner · 1 August 2022Co-facilitated the first phase of the Fairer Renfrewshire Panel (12 weeks) leveraging their experience in developing citizen-led panels. STAR Project was the community group implementing the panel.
• St Mirren Charitable Trust (SMCF)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2020SMCF was the most responsive food partner during COVID-19, running a public campaign to get fans to donate and enlisting corporate partners as a conduit to local supermarkets. Provided essential food supplies to STAR's Community Fridge delivery service throughout the pandemic.
• Morrisons Anchor MillscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2020Their Community Champion supported STAR's food response, starting as a one-off large donation and developing into a weekly food run. Demonstrated sustained commitment to community support beyond tokenistic engagement.
• Zero Waste ScotlandminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partnership since the Community Fridge launch in 2019 focused on reducing food waste. Collaborated with celebrity chef Julie Lin on a CAN-paign to educate community on cooking with canned goods.
• Renfrewshire FoodbankcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 March 2019Partnership in food insecurity response. STAR used the Foodbank as a fallback when considering CFP changes, and collaborated on food provision across Renfrewshire.
• Stronger CommunitiescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2017Partnership for the Support, Equip, Include project expansion to Glenburn, building on Stronger Communities' established presence in the area.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Social Bite: Scotland-based social enterprise tackling homelessness and food poverty through cafés and employment programmes. Regionally comparable to STAR Project as both are Scottish organisations addressing food insecurity and social exclusion.
• The Poverty Alliance: Scotland-wide anti-poverty coalition and network. Directly comparable as an existing STAR Project partner (co-facilitating the Fairer Renfrewshire Panel), operating as a regional advocacy body in similar territory.
• Cyrenians: Scottish charity supporting people excluded from family, social networks, and mainstream services. Comparable as a Scotland-based wraparound social support provider addressing food insecurity, homelessness, and social isolation.
• Homeless Network Scotland: Scotland-wide membership network for organisations tackling homelessness and rough sleeping. Regionally comparable as a Scottish infrastructure body addressing overlapping social issues with STAR Project.

Direct peers

• FareShare: UK charity redistributing surplus food to community organisations. Comparable to STAR's Community Fridge in tackling food waste and food insecurity, though FareShare operates as a national wholesale redistribution model rather than direct-to-beneficiary service.
• The Trussell Trust: UK-wide food bank network providing emergency food parcels. Directly comparable to STAR Project's Community Fridge and emergency food response, though operating at vastly larger scale with a national franchise model.
• The Bread and Butter Thing: UK social enterprise providing low-cost food via community hubs. Directly comparable to STAR's Pantry Plus subsidised food shop model serving deprived communities, though operating across northern England rather than Scotland.
• FoodCycle: UK charity serving community meals using surplus food. Comparable to STAR's dignified food provision and community gathering model, though FoodCycle focuses specifically on shared meals rather than the broader wraparound social support STAR provides.

Broad incumbents

• Feeding Britain: UK-wide coalition working to end hunger and poverty. Broader and more politically focused than STAR, but operates in overlapping anti-poverty space with comparable policy-advocacy orientation.
• Citizens Advice Scotland: Scotland's largest independent advice network providing social welfare guidance. Adjacent to STAR's Drop-In support model though focused on advice delivery rather than direct food/wellbeing services.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/STARprojPaisley
• Facebookfacebook.com/The-STAR-Project-345674755450941
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-star-project-paisley
• Instagraminstagram.com/paisleystarproject/?hl=en
• TikToktiktok.com/@starprojpaisley

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The STAR Project