M&S Banbury Gateway

Looprun is a response division and part of an independent social enterprise called Glass Mill Social Enterprise C.I.C. This is more than food and is part of a platform called RSBA1 (Response, Sustain, Build, Achieve). A free supportive services platform to help people get back on their feet. 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 happy 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 clothing to people facing a challenge. Whatever you can do is turned into a grateful donation to a neighbour in need. As everything given and everybody counts. 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 food donations can include fresh fruit, vegetables, bakery items and non perishables. 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 and schools. This is a non voucher, free and confidential service. This means Looprun can reach more people in need with your food donations. Therefore we need your help to ensure we can supply the demand in this crisis. Anyone that receives a Looprun bag of essential food items is sustained thus creating a loop cycle. We, therefore, are a platform for a voice to be heard in the community and share life changing stories. It would be great to have more partners become part of these stories in your local community. Looprun has also expanded into providing toiletries and brand new items of clothing. For further information and gallery access on the impact of Looprun please visit: Website: www.loopruninstore.org

REDUCING WASTE- FEEDING PEOPLE Banbury Food For Charities is a registered charity with the aim of reducing food waste for environmental and public benefit. Its volunteers pick up surplus fresh fruit, vegetables and bakery products from local supermarkets. The food is within use by date, but would otherwise be lost to the human food chain by landfill, recycling or animal feed. The food is then delivered same day to 16 local registered charities which in turn support vulnerable groups such as young families, young jobless, the homeless, those with mental health and educational issues, the elderly, women in refuge and recovering addicts. The food is used for in-house meals, cookery lessons, healthy eating programmes or by service users. There is no charge for the service and the food is delivered in volunteers' vehicles. There is no storage, however as a food handler, Banbury Food for Charities is registered with the local authority as a food business.

We go out and collect good quality food that would end up in the bin we make food parcels up for vulnerable families or elderly that can’t make it to the Community fridge and then everything else we give away to the public. We’ve been running for five years now we support round 300 people a week we open up four times a week and especially with the summer holidays now families are finding it really really difficult we like to help where we can. This doesn’t just help people that can get the food the Volunteers that come and help get so much from this and some of them don’t get out of the village and it’s a good interaction. It gives them a purpose of something good to do we a very good community we do lots of fundraising for running costs and our Xmas Hampers which brings a lot of joy for everybody around two.