ALDI MILTON KEYNES - THE PLACE RETAIL PK

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.

Looprun is a response division and part of an independent social enterprise. This is more than food and is part of a supportive services platform to help people get sustained in their own individual way. With up to 94% success rate and seeing once those receiving free Looprun response bags to returning to stores as shoppers with baskets full. These are the impact stories created when all come together to do good for good. Service users are signposted to Looprun mostly from referrals including professionals in social and healthcare. Looprun provides free non perishables, perishable food, toiletries, and brand new clothing to people facing a temporary challenge. Whatever supermarkets, stores, and retailers can do is turned into a grateful donation to a neighbour in need. This is a response to real people in real-time. No food is banked providing a direct in and out service. We believe if the food is stored then a person in need is not getting any food, hence we provide an instant response and instant impact service. Looprun has access to professional volunteers who carry out a confidential support service to people in need. From homeless shelters, hostels, sheltered housing, care homes, soup kitchens and schools. This is a non voucher, free and confidential service. This means Looprun can reach more people in need with food donations. Anyone that receives a Looprun bag of essential food items is sustained thus creating a loop cycle. All are invited to become part of these sustainable stories in your local community. For further information and gallery access on the impact of Looprun please visit: Website: https://www.looprun-sciv.online/

Sharing is Caring is a food service that serves students nationwide with the intention to expand internationally. The program’s focus is to identify area needs for food requirement amongst students first and utilise resources to satisfy those needs in order to eliminate hunger in our student community. We operate within the Welfare Office at our partnering universities so as to limit abuse of the service. Students are encouraged to volunteer in every aspect of the food service as voluntary work experience is highly recognised and preferred by many employers in varying sectors. It is deep sadness that we have identified a large community of students who do not eat on an average day to day basis simply because they cannot afford to. It is our intention to operate a warehouse facility at every university and college in the United Kingdom where we will store donated or rescued food for distribution to students. The program actively solicits food from retailers, wholesalers, and processors. In addition, we plan to collect food donations from restaurants for immediate distribution to service programs. It is estimated that the number of students who need services from us will increase during the next five years as the cost of living increases. Though there are a number of food banks available countrywide, there is that element of embarrassment that a student has to overcome to approach them. It is with this in mind that we are providing a more specific service solely for students. It is within our plan to have a smart phone application that allows students to indicate their need and desire for food. Sharing is Caring is therefore an important resource because we can respond quickly with the one of the most important resources these students need. Food! Our services help to improve the wellbeing and welfare of students and assist greatly in achieving goals that have been set. We know that our service is a small investment with regards to the influence hunger has on our health, however, it must be implemented as the cost of ignoring the problem regarding student hunger could possibly be detrimental in the long run especially in the face of rising university costs without added incentives. We all know that “hungry” should never be a pronoun for “student”, however; today sub-standardisation of this matter is a reality for some.