Lidl Locksbottom

The community centre is based on Middle Park estate, a local authority housing estate in Eltham. The centre is often referred to as the heart of the community. Our day starts at 7am when we open to provide breakfast for some 60 + children and young people. Children have a healthy, nutritious breakfast that helps to set them up for their school day. We collect children from school, they have the opportunity to do their homework, take part in activities and are given a hot meal. When the children go to school there are a wide range of activities for older people, we have a community café serving hot food four days a week. Older people are able to meet up and take part in activities, this helps combat loneliness. People are able to access a wide range of information and support at the centre, or just a cup of tea and a chat when it’s needed.

Open Kitchen is a foodbank set up by Christ Church Orpington in May 2020 in the wake of the pandemic. We collect surplus food from supermarkets and other food outlets, and make it freely available for our local community to collect - without vouchers. Currently we collect from about 25 suppliers and support approximately 100 families each week. Open Kitchen is run by a team of 30 volunteers who hate to see food waste and who want to support local families in need. We are always looking for new volunteers to join the team so that we can reach more in the community and save more food from being thrown away.

Each week we collect excess fresh food from local supermarkets, including Waitrose, Tesco, Aldi and M&S Food. This is usually food that is approaching its shelf-life and cannot be sold. Every Saturday afternoon we distribute this healthy food to local families and individuals in Croydon from our distribution point in Thornton Heath. We take referrals from Social Services, schools, family centres and medical centres. We also accept self-referrals from clients who can demonstrate they are on benefits, low income or otherwise in need. Our aim is to enable disadvantaged people and families to maintain a healthy diet while on a low income or no income at all. We also increase awareness of the problem of plastic pollution by encouraging clients to bring their own bags, by giving out re-cyclable bags ourselves and by distributing as much food as possible without plastic packaging.