Lidl Milton Keynes Brooklands

We at 'Meeting Needs' try to meet the needs of those who are in our community on a weekly basis who struggle financially. We do this by making up food parcels and boxes, and then have these delivered to those in our surrounding areas.. What premises does your project operate from? We do not operate from any premises as we do not store or retain food. All food are delivered on the day, or night that it is collected from the stores due to their "used by date". Our policy is straight from the store, straight to our recipients homes as we conduct a delivery service from store straight to homes. This ensures no one is hampered by having to travel to access the food. Our ethos is to eradicate all barriers that inhibits individuals from accessing food and that includes travel. We also eliminate the need to carry heavy bags of food back to their homes. Our motto is to provide a streamline service that enables our recipients to have an easier way of receiving food which greatly aids our more challenged individuals like the elderly and disabled. All of our collections are given to shelters, refuges and hostels and private homes. Other parties that benefit from us are single parent families, homeless, low income workers, as well as individuals who are on benefits. The elderly and the disabled and individuals who are in care homes who enjoy receiving our cakes, breads, and flowers. The users are identified by the need that they show and divulge to us, and the difficulties and challenges that they face in accessing food. We also supply clothing, household items which are sourced from other Charity organisations. Has there been local press or similar that demonstrates your organisation's work in the local community? We do not advertise the work that we do as a respect to the individuals that we serve as some of our recipients are classed as 'vulnerable' ie DV victims.

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.

Sharing is Caring is a food service that serves students nationwide with the intention to expand internationally. The program’s focus is to identify area needs for food requirement amongst students first and utilise resources to satisfy those needs in order to eliminate hunger in our student community. We operate within the Welfare Office at our partnering universities so as to limit abuse of the service. Students are encouraged to volunteer in every aspect of the food service as voluntary work experience is highly recognised and preferred by many employers in varying sectors. It is deep sadness that we have identified a large community of students who do not eat on an average day to day basis simply because they cannot afford to. It is our intention to operate a warehouse facility at every university and college in the United Kingdom where we will store donated or rescued food for distribution to students. The program actively solicits food from retailers, wholesalers, and processors. In addition, we plan to collect food donations from restaurants for immediate distribution to service programs. It is estimated that the number of students who need services from us will increase during the next five years as the cost of living increases. Though there are a number of food banks available countrywide, there is that element of embarrassment that a student has to overcome to approach them. It is with this in mind that we are providing a more specific service solely for students. It is within our plan to have a smart phone application that allows students to indicate their need and desire for food. Sharing is Caring is therefore an important resource because we can respond quickly with the one of the most important resources these students need. Food! Our services help to improve the wellbeing and welfare of students and assist greatly in achieving goals that have been set. We know that our service is a small investment with regards to the influence hunger has on our health, however, it must be implemented as the cost of ignoring the problem regarding student hunger could possibly be detrimental in the long run especially in the face of rising university costs without added incentives. We all know that “hungry” should never be a pronoun for “student”, however; today sub-standardisation of this matter is a reality for some.