Second Helpings Stamford
Stamford, UK
We collect surplus food including food which has reached its best before and use by date from suppliers. Using this food, we prepare and serve nourishing meals in our Pay As You Feel Café at Barn Hill Methodist Church every Saturdays 12pm-2pm alongside our Pantry and Community Fridge.
Inspired by Adam Smith's 'Real Junk Food Café' in Leeds and frustrated at the amount of good food wasted whilst people go hungry, Second Helpings Stamford opened in October 2015 as a Church and Community Project. We take perfectly edible raw materials from supermarkets, farms and personal supporters in and around Stamford that would otherwise go to waste. This produce is available to the community daily from the Pantry and the Community Fridge, and in delicious, wholesome meals in the Saturday Café where we serve an average of 70 people each week. We are staffed by volunteers and all our food is available on a pay-as-you-feel basis.
Stamford Methodist Church is a busy, family oriented church close to the town centre. Committed to inclusivity and social outreach the premises are used by a wide variety of groups from the congregation and the local community.
What we've received
Meals492,687
Non-food (tonnes)9.64
Volunteering (hrs)Volunteering (hours)35
Money£8,856
Joan Wake Close Social Club
Peterborough, UK
A Feeling of Wellness at Joan Wake Close
Joan Wake Close is an Independent Living scheme in Market Deeping, Peterborough, designed especially for people aged 55 and over.
The Joan Wake Close Social Club is a group of residents who have come together to supply affordable meals for other residents, arrange and manage wellbeing events and social activities, and to enjoy each other’s company.
Chair Chris has experience in applying for funding, as well as the understanding of how to drive such a group forward. Treasurer Sandra has managed a local pub. Between them, and the other residents involved, they are making sure people are fed, feel looked after and cared for, and feel part of a local community.
The group works together to cook meals which are available and affordable for other residents, who pay a donation which suits their budget. The club is very popular and has been certified by Fareshare (Tesco) and Neighbourly (Aldi, Sainsbury’s, Lidl and M&S Food Stores). This gives the club access to food and other goods which can no longer be sold in supermarkets.
In the club’s first 39 weeks, members have provided more than 1250 hot meals, and saved 10,000.0kg of food which was destined for the disposal.
Each month, the club hosts a brunch which has been very well supported by residents and their families. Each Friday, members hold a coffee morning. The local Tesco community champion joins to help serve the treats on offer.
It just goes to show what a big impact a small story can have. Tesco and Fareshare are working on a case study to show how well the club has done, and the club itself is in with a chance of receiving an additional grant from Tesco, (decided by a public vote), from 1st April to 30th June.
Chair Chris tells us “We are always looking at new, innovative and fresh ways of supporting our small community. One of our main aims was to cook balanced and affordable meals for any resident of Joan Wake Close, and we are doing that, but it’s about more than just a meal, we are helping residents feel as if they belong. Our scheme has been a lifeline to many in the Deepings community and from further afield in the 40 years it has been here. Our lovely communal room and full fitted kitchen gives us the means to try and give something back to our local community.”
Housing association Accent Housing, which owns and manage Joan Wake Close, is extremely proud of the group’s efforts. A spokesperson said: “Their hard work and success in getting this initiative off the ground is amazing and it has helped to make Joan Wake Close a happier, healthier, cleaner and greener environment for everyone.”
What we've received
Meals55,616
Non-food (tonnes)0.47
Total Care
Peterborough, UK
Our aim is to collect surplus food from suppliers for mothers and young children, working families, elderly people and importantly, their PETS, as families who are struggling with the cost of living crisis. We also provide 'well being' sessions including free yoga etc. Total Care currently collects from local farms and are looking for fresh and quality food to encourage parents and cares to cook healthy food to their children and family. Being a new organisation, we have already provided food for over 100 families on a regular basis.
Some of our volunteers have been collecting food for other charities for many years. Our aim is to build on this experience to educate our new members to eat and feed their family with nutrition . We operate from a cabin (register with council as a business) which has been built at the rear of my property which provides a friendly clean environment for families as well as being used to layout our collected food.
Our founder has a BSc in psychology' studying social issues such as economics and child development, Forensic Psychology: the criminal justice System, such as drugs and addictive behaviour from observing inexperienced parents, identifying them and their children's need for support, from basic care with their children, such as a nutrition. We encourage mothers to cook colourful meals and take photos of the healthy meals they make with the food collected. Our founder, along with Neuroscience trained, Total Care has been designed to identify and provide support to people with modern day life stressors.
Total Care is linked to ethnic community groups as well as being next door to an HMO which houses homeless and people who require council accommodation, such as mothers and children's etc. We also provide tins of soup to the elderly, specifically for people who cannot eat solids. Our Aim is to promote healthy food to each individual needs and well being activities. .
In addition to food donations, Total Care are providing well-being support including such things as free yoga, reflexology, massage and other well-being provisions such as psychological support this aims to help families who have a family member with dementia, elderly and autistic people.
There is no charge for any of the services we provide. We will try to survive on donations although we do need additional funding as we intend to use the whole property (not just the cabin) to run the Charity.
As Total Care does not provide 'hot' food for our customers, we ask them to provide photos of the types of meals they have made with the food provided by Total Care.
We encourage the family to cook and post pictures of the healthy meals made with food provided by Total Care on our Whatsapp group.
ToTalCare actively distributes food, whilst all food donations received through Neighbourly are handled in accordance with Neighbourly’s Terms & Conditions
What we've received
Meals124,794
Non-food (tonnes)2.11