ALDI ST. NEOTS

We are Diamond Hampers, we are dedicated to supporting and helping the most vulnerable in society. We provide food aid to vulnerable families and individuals across Cambridgeshire by supplying food parcels filled with enough to provide meals for a whole week. We support local hostels by supplying them with trays of fresh food items and products ideal for those sleeping on our streets. We support rough sleepers by supplying them with hot meals, snacks, warm clothing, bedding and by helping them to seek the support they need from the relevant services. We provide toys, books, clothing, toiletries and even help to source second hand furniture for those families and individuals that are living in poverty. We support young care leavers and newly housed rough sleepers by providing them with start-up kits to help them at the beginning of their new journey. We supply lots of goodies regularly to various care homes and temporary living facilities across the county and regularly send out “top up bags” and “care packages” for struggling families. Our ethos is to redirect as much food waste as possible but also around the sustainability of people and their families. With this in mind, we make referrals with and for the beneficiaries. We help them to develop longer term solutions to enable them to better sustain their own lives. We promote independence and bridge dignity gaps by providing places and spaces for affordable shopping and access to the essentials in life.

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 3 Pillars Feeding the Homeless feeds and supports the homeless and most vulnerable in St Neots, Huntingdon and Peterborough, we started 10 years ago. We are a Freemason based charity in conjunction with many members of the public and local businesses, all working together. We are based at Eaton Socon, with most of our Volunteers living in St Neots and surrounding areas. We supply food on average to between 80 and 100 Homeless in Peterborough and 200 Elderly and vulnerable people in St Neots. Food bags include bananas, crisps, sandwiches, pastry or cakes and Water. We supply hot food including Hot Dogs, Jacket Potatoes with Cheese and Beans and hot drinks,. Toiletries, Sanitary items for the Ladies, Sleeping Bags, Tents when needed, all clothing, even dog food are all free of charge. We have arranged accommodation, to date, for over 150 homeless people and temporary stays in hotels for emergency cases. We have over 6000 Facebook friends. We have 3 vans, one which visits Peterborough and one St Neots., to designated sites. A team of volunteer’s are utilised , some on the front line, some make sandwiches and hot food, and others pick up our donations, all on a rota basis. There are about 80 actual Volunteers in total.