ALDI MELKSHAM

A place for local residents to collect food that would be thrown away at the end of the day by supermarkets or shops. Re-cycling excess food for our community. We have now moved to the Round House in Church Street. Melksham Town Council have given us the use of the building. This has enabled us to open five days a week. We are not a foodbank our primary aim is to re-distribute food. However we welcome visits from those who could do with help to access free food. We work in partnership with several supermarkets and allotment holders. Our 'Shop' is open five days a week. We are very lucky in that the shop self regulates, those who need food arrive early, when they have taken what they need those residents who hate food waste come along and collect what they want. We don't ask for any evidence of benefits we aim to Save Food From Waste, and that is a first Aim.

We are a large volunteer based Charity operating across the Wiltshire area. Our volunteers use donated food to share with local families, individuals and organisations who are most in need. We are currently under pressure to meet the increasing need to help people who cannot afford food, whilst also experiencing a big decrease in the amount of food we receive due to less available food and many more people buying food from the reduced price sections. If you are a business with surplus food, would like to make a donation, volunteer or are in need of some food, please contact us.

Our central hub and storage premises are located in Bromham. From here, we manage our inventory and coordinate all packing. Because transportation is a major barrier for families in crisis, we operate a wide mobile network. We run dedicated weekly pick up services across five key Wiltshire towns: Calne, Devizes, Trowbridge, Melksham, and Chippenham, handing supplies directly to those in need at various community locations. We support local individuals and families facing sudden financial hardship, housing instability, or crisis who cannot afford basic food, toiletries, or baby essentials. We lower barriers to support by not requiring official referral vouchers. In addition to families finding us directly via word of mouth and social media, we are now a trusted resource for local schools across the area who actively pass our information to parents in need, as well as the Wiltshire Homelessness Team. We are primarily looking to access food surplus and essential toiletries. Our initiative was launched by personally funding our initial stock out of pocket, so gaining a reliable stream of surplus items will allow us to sustainably expand our reach to those that need it. We would also highly value any future grant funding to help us buy high demand gap items. Every single box, food item, and toiletry pack we provide is distributed 100% free of charge. We are an entirely community backed, volunteer run safety net. We have received fantastic local and national media coverage. We have been featured in Calne News and Melksham News, and the BBC has also written about our initiative, highlighting our rapid growth and approach to crisis support. We have recently agreed to work alongside the Wiltshire Homelessness Team and our details are actively shared by members of the Wiltshire Council. Furthermore, we cooperate with local schools who direct vulnerable families straight to our service. Food donations are integrated straight into our emergency packing system. When a family requests help, we use a personalised checklist so they only receive items they will actually use. This eliminates product waste. Everything is distributed entirely for free via our Bromham hub. Our inventory has been built entirely through our own initial personal funding and subsequent physical donations from the public.