M&S Harborne

Formerly known as The Real Junk Food Project Birmingham, Incredible Surplus has been operating since 2014. Since then, we have redistributed over 1800 tonnes of waste food, cooked and served over 36,000 meals, helped 100 people achieve a Level 2 Food Safety Certificate, and seen dozens of volunteers move on into paid employment. All this would never have been possible without our amazing bank of volunteers and without the ongoing support of our donors and partner organisations. Our volunteers intercept food and other items that would otherwise go to waste from supermarkets, restaurants and other sources and redistribute them on a “Pay-As-You-Feel” basis. We run a series of community venues on a weekly across Birmingham and Solihull. We also ‘pop up’ at other venues. Please see www.incrediblesurplus.org for more info. The food we intercept has to be fit for human consumption and therefore we do not take food that has reached its Use By date, but we can take food past its Best Before date. Alongside food donations we also receive non-food items such as toilet rolls, household items, toys, and clothes, which we can redistribute across Birmingham at regular venues and via partner organisations. Our project is for everyone and we attract a wide range of people. In the main however, we feed people who are in food poverty; this includes the homeless, refugees, single parents, people with mental health problems. What is unique with us is that anyone can access the donated items or food on a Pay As You Feel basis. All give something back in return, whether this be a cash donation, their time, or skills. This system helps to prevent stigmatisation as well as fostering an enabling approach. Our project is predominantly run by volunteers. We have just a handful pf paid staff who are paid the living wage and volunteer extra hours on top. Many of our volunteers hold level 2 Food Hygiene Certificates, and a number of our volunteers have gained skills and qualifications and now have moved onto paid work. We're always on the look out for more donors/suppliers and volunteers!

We provide Housing Support and Management Services to hundreds of Homeless and Mental Health service users all across Birmingham but continue to face more and more issues when it comes to making sure that the service users are having enough food to eat and more people are struggling to afford essential items like food, clothing and toiletries. Why we opened our own food bank? During the Covid-19 Pandemic foodbank usage tenfold and as an organisation we have been able to help the most vulnerable of our tenants during the most challenging of times. After seeing the challenges faced by our residents and the wider community to eat well on a challenging budget, with many stories from our service users of going hungry and struggling to access foodbanks, we decided to make a difference and do our part to start tackling hunger. We know there is always more to do and more people to help and we couldn't do that without the donations we receive from our partners such as Neighbourly and Toiletries Amnesty to receive donations from major supermarkets like Lidl and alongside self-funding further provisions to ensure we could meet a wide range of dietary requirements. We also receive donations from individuals and local businesses which we are so grateful for. “We are proud have been part the Neighbourly Project since 2017, who help us with donations of food and drink items. In 2019 we joined Toiletries Amnesty to further develop our service; they provide much needed toiletries for our service users”. What premises does your project operate from? Our foodbank operates from Vanguard Supported Housing CIC head office based at 23 Kenyon Street, jewellery Quarter, Birmingham, B18 6AR. How do we identify service users and their needs? All our service users are referred for housing through third party organisations such as Birmingham City Council Homeless Services, West Midlands Probation Services. Once accepted for housing they will be invited to attend an assessment and viewing appointment at our head office and at this stage any support goals will be discussed with our lead Assessor if needed any requests for food bank items such as bedding, personal hygiene products and food parcels be discussed and if warranted will be issued before the service user leaves to move into their new home. Support Workers from Vanguard or partner agencies are able to refer their service users to the food bank where our foodbank manager will support them to complete a foodbank referral form and budget form. Are there any other services provided by your organisation other than food support? Our organisation Vanguard Supported Housing CIC houses vulnerable adults in shared and supported accommodation. We provide person We are proud to say that all our services are offered free of charge to all our residents. . We also accept referrals for food parcels from our partner agencies such as Spring Housing and Guardian Housing.

We have been active now for the best part of 7 years and we have assisted many People who have had or are experiencing a multitude of social issues. We have created real and positive changes through active care, support and person-centred progression. Our team has recently had a change of Directoship and new members have joined us with fresh ideas and projects in the pipeline as we move forward. While our focus is still the same: to help people in any ways that we are able to, our approach has changed slightly and we are now moving into a more faith based / Christ lead chapter. ** Christian faith based weekly meetings ** offering Prayer to those who would like it ** Rwmaining Grassroots & Person centred ** Assisting People in local Communities ** Reducing Rough sleeper numbers in Birmingham & the West Midlands in partnership with housing providers ** Promoting clean living through making healthy options ** Promoting positive mental health ** Supporting Children & Families with Food ** Food wastage reduction ** Drug & Alcohol awareness & signposting to services ** Mental Health First Aid ** Clothing recycling ** Offering 1 to 1 Spiritual support Our first project SBC Family, a direct action, self funded family of friends, is now in it's almost 10th Year of assisting people directly on the Roads of Birmingham and has assited many People, Our Road Lovelies, each month with essentials such as food, clothing, hot meals, food parcels and most importantly, Love. We are helping people to see that a bad day does not mean a bad life and that with guidance many positive things are possible.