Lidl Normanton

We are a community based kitchen, we have a kitchen outside the Wakefield Cathedral every Wednesday from 6pm. We offer a hot meal, pastries, snacks, sandwiches, as well as clothing toiletries and books to anyone in need with no judgement. We also provide tents and sleeping bags for those that are homeless. Everything is free to anyone who needs it. We began in August 2018 and our first kitchen fed 30 people, and currently we are feeding about a 100 people plus minus a week sometimes whole families. We have some amazing volunteers and we are not just about food, we have plenty of volunteers around all the time for people to chat to about any issues they have and just to lend an ear.

Every day, people go hungry in the UK for all kinds of reasons, from changes and delays in the benefits system to redundancy to receiving an unexpectedly large bill for a major repair. A simple box of food makes a big difference, with foodbanks helping prevent crime, housing loss, family breakdown and mental health problems. Normanton Foodbank relies on the support of local people, businesses and communities to help alleviate poverty and hunger in our community. Food donations Non-perishable in-date food is donated by the public at places across the local community, such as schools,churches and businesses, as well as supermarket collection points. It is then sorted and packed into boxes by volunteers, ready to be given to people in need. Food vouchers Care professionals such as doctors, health visitors, schools and social workers identify people in crisis and issue them with a foodbank voucher. They can exchange this voucher for a foodbank parcel of three days’ nutritionally balanced, non-perishable food. The help we give… Our foodbanks offers a lot more than food. Our volunteers offer a listening ear to clients over a warm drink, and signpost people to other charities and agencies who can help resolve the underlying cause of the crisis. There are many ways to help The Trussell Trust as a volunteer from helping at collection points, to stock-taking and audits, to helping us refurbish our premises. We can continue supporting people in crisis thanks to passionate people giving their time to help their hungry neighbours. Please get involved by following our project page and share this project with your friends and followers using the social icons on this page. Click the volunteering tab above to see our upcoming volunteer events and sign up to help us tackle food poverty together.

Wakefield Community Fridge is a volunteer-led community organisation helping people across Wakefield access food, practical support and routes into wider services, while reducing food waste by redistributing good-quality surplus food. We operate twice-weekly Community Fridge sessions from our base at Jamia Masjid Swafia in Wakefield. Our service provides a welcoming and dignified way for local people experiencing financial pressure or food insecurity to access essential food alongside surplus produce that would otherwise go to waste. Since opening in December 2025, demand has grown rapidly. We now support hundreds of visits each month and redistribute thousands of food items through supermarket collections, donations from local businesses and food purchased using grants and community funding. Our work is increasingly about more than food. We use the Community Fridge as an accessible point of contact where people can connect with specialist support. We are developing support pathways with Citizens Advice, Turning Point and Cash Wise, helping people access advice and support around finances, benefits, debt, housing, substance use and other issues affecting household stability. We are supported by a committed team of volunteers and work closely with supermarkets, food businesses, community organisations and local employers. We also welcome businesses that would like to support us through corporate volunteering, food donations or other practical assistance. The support we need most is regular donations of surplus food, including fresh produce, bakery items, ambient groceries and short-dated stock; partnerships with food manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, supermarkets, bakeries and other businesses with usable surplus; volunteers to support collections, sorting, stocking and our twice-weekly sessions; corporate volunteering and practical support from local employers; and funding or in-kind support to help us meet growing demand and strengthen the Community Fridge for the longer term. Our aim is simple: reduce food waste, make good food available to people who need it, and use that first point of contact to help people access wider support where needed.