Lidl Colchester St Andrews Ave

- Community fridge and food pantry -Cooking clubs -improving well being - The general public/mankind - Provides advocacy/advice/information The Boaz Project operates a community fridge and food pantry from the address: Customs House, Hythe Quay. Colchester. CO2 8JB The Boaz Project has both the Greenstead and Hythe in Colchester for four years, including all through the lockdown and is well known in Colchester. Unfortunately Greenstead falls within the ten percent most deprived communities in the UK and food need a major issue. Individuals and families in difficulty are referred to us from various organizations and professionals and can self-refer. We prioritize getting to know why people need us in the first place, which help us to know how best to support them. We provide support with benefit reviews, we run cooking skills sessions regularly, through our various schemes, such as the Slow cooker club, Wok club etc. These teach people how to shop affordably and make use of food items in their cupboard and or fridge that they will not normally use. We provide befriending practical support and reduce loneliness through our Neighborhood chaplaincy project. All our services and provisions are free of charge to every member of the community who need it. We currently collect surplus food from Fareshare through Foodiverse but recent rapid increase in the number of people needing our support means that we need more food Please see a post to a local press release that demonstrates our organisation's work in the local community: https://www.gazette-news.co.uk/news/20126851.colchester-boaz-project-community-fridge-free-food/

From August 2021, we welcome 32 families who came from Afghanistan after the Taliban problem in Kabul. We work with the local churches and local community groups to support us with donations for newly arrived families. The churches have been very supportive for the mission. St. John the Baptist church at Mt Bures, Hope Community Witham, Castle Methodist church, Fordham church and most of the local community groups in Colchester. We visit the newly arrived families after they got home from the refugee centre, which they provided them with basic items such as: fridge, freeze, washing machine, cooker, sofas and a bed. We are involved with these newly arrived families to provide them with all their needs, like: clothes, shoes, toys for the children, food in a weakly basis, kitchen devices, beddings, gardening tools, hoovers, mirrors and hair driers and we visit them regularly to support them and give them advise for education and NHS and the rest of the rules in UK. We also connected them with families through churches, so they can befriend them rather than being isolated. All of our services to our clients are provided free of charge.

We exist to help end the cycle of poverty and enable people to find wholeness in body, soul and spirit. We provide hot food, community fridges, & community markets across our locations.