M&S Canary Wharf

Urban Unity Food Bank is a grassroots initiative run by a passionate team of local volunteers at The Old Surgery Community Centre. We are committed to supporting individuals and families in need by providing free food, seven days a week. We serve a diverse range of people in our local community. Including families with children, people on low incomes, those with special needs, and vulnerable individuals such as pregnant women, disabled residents, chemotherapy patients, and the housebound. We also deliver to those experiencing homelessness, local night shelters, after-school clubs, and other community centres. This includes retired Veterans of military service shelter, women's salvation army shelter, men's shelter, and a local soup kitchen for the homeless. We also have previous service users of our foodbank volunteering with us and giving back to the community, such as previously homeless people. As demand continues to grow, we are now facing challenges in meeting the needs of everyone who comes to us. More people are turning to us for help than we currently have food available, but we are determined to continue serving and expanding our reach. Who We Support and How We welcome people from all backgrounds, with no need for referrals, vouchers, or paperwork. Our volunteers, many of whom live locally, work directly with the community. Identifying and supporting those who need help. We offer compassionate, informal support and respect each person’s privacy. Whether someone needs regular food support, has dietary restrictions, or simply needs someone to talk to, we’re here to help. At its core, our food bank is about more than food, it’s about dignity, kindness, and community. We aim to bring people together, offer hope, and put a smile on someone’s face during a difficult time. More Than a Food Bank While our main focus is on rescuing surplus food and redistributing it, we also provide a range of other services to support people more holistically: Listening & Support Service – A safe, friendly space where volunteers offer a listening ear and emotional support. Holistic / Whole-Person Support – We assist people with wider challenges such as debt, housing issues, domestic abuse, mental health concerns, and isolation, by offering guidance or signposting to other support services. Everything We Do Is Free All of our services from food parcels to emotional support are completely free. We believe everyone should have access to food and care without barriers. How We Source Food We currently collect surplus food from local businesses through our partnership with Neighbourly. In addition, our volunteers carry out extra one-off collections whenever possible such as canteens in Canary Wharf's corporate banks. We are always open to building new partnerships with local businesses, suppliers, and organisations who share our mission and want to help reduce food waste while supporting those in need.

COOH helps children, young people and families across Lewisham, Southwark, Lambeth and Greenwich strengthen their wellbeing, confidence and stability through trusted community programmes and practical support. Come Out of Hiding – The Lighthouse Network CIC (COOH) is a Christian organisation and we welcome and serve people of all faiths and no faith. Founded in 2015 and incorporated as a Community Interest Company in 2018, we provide safe, welcoming spaces where people can connect, receive support, learn new skills and take part in opportunities that may otherwise be out of reach. Our programmes include: • Let’s Get Messy – creative, wellbeing and movement activities for children aged 3–10. • STEPs: Let’s Level Up – mentoring, employability, enterprise, financial capability, leadership and life-skills activities for young people aged 11–17. • Let’s Get Moving – physical activities, community trips and family experiences. • Let’s Talk – mental and emotional wellbeing conversations and safe spaces. • Let’s Get Fed – food, basic essentials and practical support for households experiencing hardship. • Let’s Be Light (for those who choose this) – Christian leadership, volunteering and community social action. We also provide community drop-ins, family forums, community meals, seasonal holiday activities, employer visits, work experience and signposting to other services. Our whole-family approach recognises that children and young people are more likely to thrive when their parents, carers and wider household are also supported. COOH has delivered more than 6,700 participant hours and has built trusted relationships with local residents, community organisations, NHS services, housing providers, businesses and funders. The support we need most includes surplus food, toiletries, household essentials, school supplies, clothing, refreshments and materials for our activities. We also welcome volunteers who can support youth and children’s sessions, community drop-ins, food distribution, mentoring, employability workshops, events, administration, fundraising, communications and professional advice. Financial donations help us respond when a family needs urgent assistance, cover activities and travel for children and young people, provide welcoming community sessions and ensure trained staff and volunteers are available to deliver our work safely.

RESET MH is a registered UK charity (no: 1194051) that provides free mental health services to adults and young people from the black community, through the provision of mental health first aid training, peer support services, individual and group therapy services. We are led by members of these communities who have lived experiences. Our tailored sessions are co- designed alongside them to ensure that they receive the correct support that meets their needs. All our sessions are also delivered by black qualified/registered professionals who are from the communities we serve. We have worked in collaboration with the community to provide services that truly meet their needs and serve them. The black community has been heavily affected by the pandemic financially and also with the issues with the cost of living. Due to this we are looking to looking to provide food support to low income families in London to support them during festive season and beyond. There are no charges for any of our services as we want to remove barriers of cost faced in these communities and also make is more accessible. We don’t currently collect surplus food from other retailers and this is a new service we want to provide to the communities we support to ensure that they receive food they need. We were recently funded by National Lottery and Nike London - funds were used to provide free mental health services to the black community. - We have been supporting the black community since 2018 and have identifies members of the community who will benefit for food support. - We provide free mental health services which include: peer support, mental health first aid training, individual and group therapy sessions. - There is no charge and all the services we deliver are free. - Due to confidentiality no picture are taken when delivering our mental health services. -Here is an article from our recent partnership with Nike in providing free services to black communities - https://about.nike.com/en/newsroom/releases/nike-black-community-commitment-london-grants - Here is our Instagram page - https://www.instagram.com/reset_mh/