M&S Stadium Milton Keynes

We started in October 2015 feeding the homeless, rootless and in need on a Saturday. We now run a Social Supermarket on Tuesdays 12 - 2, a fresh fruit and vegetable food bank on Thursdays 12 - 2 all from surplus food from Supermarkets and Saturdays we serve hot food 5 - 6pm. We currently run 5 projects. Our first project is Dine With Us on The Streets - Cherries Legacy where we support between 80 to 100 people with hot hearty food, take away food such as tins, sandwiches, crisps, fruit, hot drinks, toiletries and clothes, every Saturday These are people who are either street homeless, in hostels, on means tested benefits or in other financial crisis. We have been running this project since October 2015 and we believe in treating people with respect and with dignity. Our second project is Dine With Us Community Larder, our Food Bank project ,launched in February 2019, giving access to vital nourishment for those suffering food poverty. The need for this is much greater than we anticipated and we now need more partners so we can ensure that we have enough food to meet the demand. We are also incurring significant costs operating the programme, with the yearly rent on the unit, running costs and other sundries. We have seen as many as 75 (seventy five) families come to collect food in a single day. Our third project sees us support 11 schools with more looking to come on board (which we cannot commit to yet as we do not have enough food). Fresh fruit and vegetables and protein play a pivotal part in our organisation, as is encouraging people to eat more healthily, regardless of their circumstances. Our fourth project is sending out care packages to the community, quite often through the schools as well and our fifth project is opening and running Bedfords first Social Supermarket which has been in operation since April 2020. This gives people access to affordable food and provides a fundraising vehicle for us, to help towards the other projects we run on a goodwill basis.

MK Community Fridge began as two fridges and one freezer located in the foyer of The Old Bath House Community Centre, Stratford Road, Wolverton. The project was launched on Saturday 1 July 2017 and to date it has shared more than 500 tons of food with the people of Milton Keynes The network of community fridges in Milton Keynes is growing and they can be found in Coffee Hall, Netherfield, Great Linford, Conniburrow Wolverton and Westcroft - www.mkcommunityfridge.org The community fridge project has inspired a pop-up cafe, surplus supper events and craft sharing sessions all which encourage communities to bond and share resources that might otherwise be wasted. In February 2021 we piloted a new project with Hubbub Foundation UK that uses electric vehicles and paid riders to collect food on behalf of community fridges in Milton Keynes. Our hope is that this increases the amount of food that we can stop from being wasted and further lower our impact on the environment. It will also help our community fridges to support their projects, volunteers and lower costs for their venues - www.foodconnect.io ‘Yes, the fridge has impacted our household. It's a great lesson for the kids in sharing and not wasting and has enforced the already well established community feel in Wolverton’ – Fridge user ‘My husband was signed off work and we couldn't afford much food we have a 1 year old so fresh food is very important to us and we were able to feed ourselves thanks to the community fridge. It definitely shows people care and gives a lovely sense of community.’ – Fridge user 'I’m so pleased that the pumpkins have been of use. I get fun growing them, and its better still when the vegetables end up being eaten and enjoyed.' – Tim, Local Farmer

Age UK Milton Keynes is a local independent charity working with and for older people in the borough of Milton Keynes to make a real and positive difference that contributes to their wellbeing and quality of life.