B&Q Milton Keynes

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.

The Faith Feeders project has been set up for a number of years and has grown significantly throughout those years. We currently cater for around 60 guests with a freshly cooked hot meal to takeaway along clothing, food items to take home. We are currently supporting several organisations who also provide food for the homeless, supporting women's refuges throughout the years and recently assisting Age UK with providing extras for the elderly in our Community. As a Church we have several singles mothers who receive regular groceries along clothing, bedding etc. Our project is self-funded and grateful for organisations who have come alongside to support this thriving project but in order to expand and reach the wider community more help is required. We are constantly looking for extra food items and sources to support what we do as this will certainly enable us to support all these various groups and needs within our community. Our ultimate aim would be to set up a housing project to cater for the needs of the homeless but until such a time as the funding becomes available we are grateful to be able to impact their lives in some small way. Simply to touch a life. To make a difference.

We run a larder , cafe and fridge every saturday for everyone that needs a little help.