M&S Chippenham

We are a large volunteer based Charity operating across the Wiltshire area. Our volunteers use donated food to share with local families, individuals and organisations who are most in need. We are currently under pressure to meet the increasing need to help people who cannot afford food, whilst also experiencing a big decrease in the amount of food we receive due to less available food and many more people buying food from the reduced price sections. If you are a business with surplus food, would like to make a donation, volunteer or are in need of some food, please contact us.

The Caenhill Countryside Centre is set in mid Wiltshire on a 70 acre farm which is run as a rural learning centre. It delivers courses and workshops to involve children and young people in rural outside learning, the rural food chain, countryside crafts and skills. We are supported by a team of volunteers willing to develop the farm into a suitable environment for learning and pass on skills to young people. We are helped by help for heroes and groups that use the farm to improve their members well-being. Our motto touching hearts and living souls sums up the special atmosphere at the farm . We recycle materials for building, feed for animals and the volunteers and forage for items that will benefit the young people and the animals. We are developing links with as many local interest groups and skills providers as we can to enable the Centre to be a thriving and useful hub. Our courses so far have included, agriculture, horticulture, bee keeping, the local food chain, animal management, rural foods, field detectives, foraging, puddling and more. Our latest work is around renovate buildings, repairing workspaces, building rescue animal area, a craft studio, developing a memory woodland, planting crop areas making it a sustainable and usable project.

FoodBox @ St Peter’s Church is a community-led, volunteer-run project supporting people across the Chippenham area. We collect surplus food from local supermarkets that would otherwise go to waste and combine this with purchased items to provide food to those who need it most. We are proud that 99% of all donations go directly towards supplying food for our recipients. FoodBox began as a simple response to a local need, started by the Vicar of St Peter’s Church to help families feed their children during the summer holidays. When the Vicar left Chippenham in February 2023, local volunteers stepped forward to ensure the project could continue. Today, FoodBox is entirely run by volunteers and remains closely supported by St Peter’s Church, which generously provides space, encouragement, and ongoing practical help. As the needs of our community have grown, FoodBox has adapted. What began as a traditional food bank, with people coming to the church to collect food, has evolved into a delivery service. This change ensures that support reaches people who may be isolated, unwell, or unable to travel, helping us care for some of the most vulnerable members of our community. FoodBox is powered by around 70 volunteers who together give approximately 100 hours of their time every week. The volunteers participate in administration, fundraising, shopping, food collection, packing, and deliveries, there are around 50 different tasks carried out each week. This shared commitment, generosity, and teamwork are at the heart of FoodBox and make it possible for us to continue supporting local households week after week.