Lidl Kempston

We started in October 2015 feeding the homeless, rootless and in need on a Saturday. We now run a Social Supermarket on Tuesdays 12 - 2, a fresh fruit and vegetable food bank on Thursdays 12 - 2 all from surplus food from Supermarkets and Saturdays we serve hot food 5 - 6pm. We currently run 5 projects. Our first project is Dine With Us on The Streets - Cherries Legacy where we support between 80 to 100 people with hot hearty food, take away food such as tins, sandwiches, crisps, fruit, hot drinks, toiletries and clothes, every Saturday These are people who are either street homeless, in hostels, on means tested benefits or in other financial crisis. We have been running this project since October 2015 and we believe in treating people with respect and with dignity. Our second project is Dine With Us Community Larder, our Food Bank project ,launched in February 2019, giving access to vital nourishment for those suffering food poverty. The need for this is much greater than we anticipated and we now need more partners so we can ensure that we have enough food to meet the demand. We are also incurring significant costs operating the programme, with the yearly rent on the unit, running costs and other sundries. We have seen as many as 75 (seventy five) families come to collect food in a single day. Our third project sees us support 11 schools with more looking to come on board (which we cannot commit to yet as we do not have enough food). Fresh fruit and vegetables and protein play a pivotal part in our organisation, as is encouraging people to eat more healthily, regardless of their circumstances. Our fourth project is sending out care packages to the community, quite often through the schools as well and our fifth project is opening and running Bedfords first Social Supermarket which has been in operation since April 2020. This gives people access to affordable food and provides a fundraising vehicle for us, to help towards the other projects we run on a goodwill basis.

-Clophill Community Hub is operated in the grounds of Clophill Village Hall in Kiln Lane, Clophill Clophill Village Hall has operated as a community facility since the 1960's, the existing hall was rebuilt in 2005 after a major fundraising effort by the Management Committee (many of whom still serve on the Committee to this day), and continues to offer one of the finest village hall facilities in Bedfordshire, including am award winning pre school operation, nursery and host of of community based activities for all ages. - In 2022 the Village Hall Committee recognised the needs of many households, not only in Clophill, but also in surrounding villages and towns, caused by the cost of living crisis and therefore embarked on a fundraising initiative to provide a Food Bank provision to support those individuals and families. As a result of great support from the local Parish Council, Central Beds Council and other donations the Clophill Foodbank + opened in December 2022 - The Foodbank + offer a range of ambient food products and household items to those in most need along with other items such as books and small children's toys. It also hosts a Facebook site ( http://www.facebook.com/clophillcommunityhub) which not only gives up to date information on the Hub, but offers a place where donators can connect with those in need to offer larger items for free, such as prams, bicycles and large toys. -The facility is open to everyone every weekday and is widely publicised through local communication such as newsletters, notice boards and social media - There is no charge for items offered by the Hub, but we hope that donators and users follow our strap-line "Give generously and take thoughtfully" Our experience so far has been overwhelmingly positive with users demonstrating care and respect for others and we have many stories from individual users on how we are helping that by in very tough times. -The Community Hub relies on donations from various drop off around local villages and towns to maintain it's supply chain, including local churches, schools and the local Coop store but to date we have no surplus food arrangement with any retailer. -Monetary donations are collected through direct debit donations and through a Community Hub Just Giving site. This money enables us to "go shopping" each month to supplement the physical donations we receive. - After one year of operation we have seen growing awareness and use of the facility and demand continues to outstrip supply so we desperately need a strong relationship with a large food retailer to boost our supply chain.

In 2011 Bedford Foodbank starting providing 3 days worth of food to local people in crisis., over the last 9 years we have seen a demand in our services and we regularly feed over 2000 people each month.. We rely on donations of food to feed people who are referred to us by over 220 local agencies .People then come to one of our 7 distribution centres where they are welcomed and receive non perishable food free of charge for 3-5days. We have a wonderful team of over 140 volunteers who enable this to happen.