Lidl London - Sutton Town Centre

We are a group of volunteers in the London Borough of Sutton helping families in need by distributing fresh healthy food boxes every week. Sutton Community Project operates @ Thomas Wall Centre (52 Benhill Ave, Sutton SM1 4DP) in the heart of Sutton. Our Library cafe is open to the public every Tuesday from 2-5:30pm where free tea, coffee and healthy snacks are available for Neighbours to enjoy. Food distribution starts from 3pm. £1 donation is requeste on the front desk at arrival (this is a donation not compulsory, so you can collect a food box even when you don't have £1). A founding principle is to love our neighbours, end food poverty, and inspire communities to live in a more environmentally sustainable way. Our vision is to reduce food waste and alleviate poverty by redistributing more surplus food to families and people struggling due to the cost-of-living crisis, homelessness, and the Russian/Ukraine war, and support the community through facilitating and working with services offering debt advice & job clubs through CAP (Christian Against Poverty), parent support, and well-being courses. Our values are to provide a strong shared foundation to help our Neighbours, alleviate food poverty in the UK, and inspire our community to more environmentally friendly sustainable living for a better future for all. We also encourage and promote integration, especially with our many newly arrived Hong Kong volunteers supporting them and providing references for them as they settle in the UK. We would love to see the diverse community in our borough transformed by providing a healthy balanced food box and creating a safe community space where people can be listened to and get ongoing support while they are going through a difficult and testing time. These include families on low income, the elderly and those who feel isolated, the unemployed, adults/children with special needs, with physical & mental health issues, refugees (particularly affected by war/conflict), and affected by the ongoing cost of living crisis. We are working in partnership with The Felix Project and Critical Support / City Harvest who saves surplus fresh food and distributes it to many charities, schools, and projects in London. Donations from local schools, churches, businesses and residents allows us to make up around 120-150 healthy balanced food boxes every week to distribute to those in need who are referred by Citizen Advice, Food Banks & local charities / community groups. Since the project's launch, the service users believe that they have become more sociable, their general well-being has been improved and they are more able to solve problems in life, many have become volunteers. Our goal is to see our community transformed - for the lives of the poor & the neediest in our community to be alleviated from poverty, become more independent and realise their full potential, learn to lead more sustainable living and give back to society for a better community.

We are a group of local professionals from across the Sutton community who actively work together to plan, deliver and implement projects aimed at achieving positive outcomes for those who live, work and travel to the London Borough of Sutton. Our network draws on the experience, observations and combined expertise of its 30+ members including: Accountants, Analysts, Marketing Directors, Project Managers, Nurses, Social Workers, Teachers, Teaching Assistants, Transport Operatives and Ward Coordinators. We believe that the most effective way to deliver our projects is through partnership working, utilising existing resources to promote a strong and sustainable community culture. By combining our overall skill set with the resources of our partners we are able to deliver and implement new and inventive solutions to the evolving needs of our community. Our sole objective of the network is to support anyone in need, creating a truly inclusive environment.

This project supports the fantastic work that Palmer House does for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. I have been collecting food for this purpose for some ten years! Based in Croydon, Palmer House supports 60 single people up to 65 years of age with complex needs including experience of homelessness or rough sleeping, substance misuse and mental ill health. Customers are referred to Palmer House by the London Borough of Croydon and stay up to two years. The charity empowers them to make decisions about their support, including choosing their Support Worker. This person centred approach enables customers to identify their existing strengths and skills so they can achieve their goals and aspirations. The team at Palmer House believes customers can move beyond their current support needs and achieve their full potential by developing new skills and accessing opportunities. Whilst at Palmer House, customers engage in developing life and independent living skills including developing routine and structure, fostering positive relationships, healthy eating and cooking.