M&S Lewisham

Looprun is a response division and part of an independent social enterprise. This is more than food and is part of a supportive services platform to help people get sustained in their own individual way. With up to 94% success rate and seeing once those receiving free Looprun response bags to returning to stores as shoppers with baskets full. These are the impact stories created when all come together to do good for good. Service users are signposted to Looprun mostly from referrals including professionals in social and healthcare. Looprun provides free non perishables, perishable food, toiletries, and brand new clothing to people facing a temporary challenge. Whatever supermarkets, stores, and retailers can do is turned into a grateful donation to a neighbour in need. This is a response to real people in real-time. No food is banked providing a direct in and out service. We believe if the food is stored then a person in need is not getting any food, hence we provide an instant response and instant impact service. Looprun has access to professional volunteers who carry out a confidential support service to people in need. From homeless shelters, hostels, sheltered housing, care homes, soup kitchens and schools. This is a non voucher, free and confidential service. This means Looprun can reach more people in need with food donations. Anyone that receives a Looprun bag of essential food items is sustained thus creating a loop cycle. All are invited to become part of these sustainable stories in your local community. For further information and gallery access on the impact of Looprun please visit: Website: https://www.looprun-sciv.online/

We opened Evelyn Community Store in Deptford on 26th February 2019. We are in one of the most deprived London boroughs and our aim is to reduce food poverty and the stigma attached to it. The community store offers an alternative to a food bank and ensures members have food each week. It’s run by local volunteers in partnership with Lewisham Homes and FareShare which consists of chilled, frozen, fresh and ambient stock. Members visit the store once a week, pay £3.50 and receive a range of groceries, provided by Fareshare, but we also understand that their is a greater need in the fight to combat food poverty, so any surplus food we are able to obtain is given out free. To be a member of the store you have to either be a family/person or couple on a very low income, or be in receipt of benefits and struggling to pay your bills. We have 85 members and already have a waiting list. The project has made us realise how difficult it is for people on a low income to ensure they are eating at least one meal every day. Whilst our aim is to provide food for our members we have become increasingly aware of how isolated many of our families are. It is almost the festive period and we are hoping to pair up with a store local to us so that we can ensure as many families as possible have food over the Christmas period for a least a few days if not more. It will mean so much to our members to be able to take food home and know that they can eat well and will let members know that they are not forgotten about during the festive period and hard times. Our members consist of young single parents, young couples single people all ranging in ages, as well as the elderly and people who are disabled. Also if there is any chilled foods we can transport them safely in the chill boxes we have.we are currently feeding over 500 mouths a week, and the need is growing week by week. It has had a massive impact on what we do as and how much we give out.

- The prevention or relief of poverty - Food Support - Multibank - Environment/conservation - The general public - Provides services - Provides advocacy/advice/information