Sainsbury's Thorley

We are a community wellbeing project in Essex serving West Essex and East Herts. We are based at Crafton Green, Stansted Mountfitchet, next door to the library and the Crafton Green car park. We have a welcoming community café and garden. From our centre people are also able to access help and support from our partner organisations, join clubs and interest groups, and share their skills with others. We also run a Community Food Share project in up to 6 different locations every week helping to reduce the amount of food going to waste and a NEW community radio station to further connect our community. For TouchPoint Foodshares please check the website for up to date information for locations and times. https://www.thetouchpoint.org/the-touchpoint-community-food-share/ TouchPoint Foodshare distributes food surplus for free to everyone that attends. By welcoming everyone it removes barriers and we thank the visitors for saving food from going into landfill. TouchPoint distributes for free 8Mt-10Mts a month. The total valuer of the food distributed during 2025 was approximately £500,000. The average value of a bag of groceries from TouchPoint Foodshare is £26.50. If a visitor attends a weekly foodshare every week throughout the year they can save over £1300 from the grocery bill annually. TouchPoint Active runs a range of sessions each week, from bootcamps to yoga, chair-based exercise to running. All sessions are free and accessible to all. Our “give what you can ” system enables those who wish to donate to do so. The sessions are held by fully qualified instructors and are suitable for all abilities. Check the website for up to date information of times and locations. https://www.thetouchpoint.org/touchpoint-active/ The TouchPoint Community Café is open every Thursday from 10am to 5pm, and every Friday from 8.30am to 12pm, and is a welcoming place to catch up with friends and relax. We serve a selection of hot and cold drinks and snacks, with hot food available on Thursdays between 12.30pm and 2.30pm, and free breakfast served on a Friday between 9am and 10am. Tea, coffee and squash are FREE, and cakes and snacks are available to buy. We also have a ‘Pay it Forward’ donation box if you would like to make a contribution.

About New Life Church New Life Church Bishop’s Stortford is a welcoming community dedicated to fostering unity and providing a home for those seeking connection. Guided by the vision that "the lonely can find home," the church emphasises family, friendship, and fellowship. Weekly gatherings include, serving our community with food twice a week, Sunday services from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm, Friday prayer meetings from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm, and home groups for more intimate fellowship. Utilising Food Surplus Donations for our local Community. We recognise the importance of supporting our local community, New Life Church is committed to addressing food insecurity and promoting sustainability through the effective use of food surplus donations. By collaborating with local food suppliers, supermarkets, and community members, our continuous aim is to collect surplus food that might otherwise go to waste. The church provides the following initiatives: Food Bank Services: Developing a food bank to distribute food parcels to individuals and families facing financial hardships. This service would operate on a referral basis, ensuring that assistance reaches those most in need. Community Meals Organising regular community meals to bring people together, fostering a sense of belonging and community spirit. These events would utilise surplus food to prepare nutritious meals, ensuring that resources are used efficiently while strengthening community bonds. Through these initiatives, New Life Church aims to create a supportive environment where resources are shared, waste is minimised, and every individual feels valued and cared for.

We are an organisation who are passionate about helping those in need and empowering vulnerable people to make sustainable changes which will positively impact the quality of their lives. Through partnership with Neighbourly and Carboodle we run our own food bank to distribute food to those in need. Seed to Spoon CIC recognises that many people lack the skills to cook their own nutritious meals on a restricted budget. We commit to working with individuals, groups and families to show them how to cook simple meals and give them the skills to independently provide for themselves in the future. We celebrate different cultures and can provide teaching in cooking meals from a variety of cuisines and cater for differing dietary needs. Within our team we have our executive chef , Herbert N'Goran http://www.lecoqroyal.co.uk who has over 30 years experience cooking and teaching new chefs and Judith Burgess, a very experienced teacher with over 25 years experience in the classroom. All members of our team work on a voluntary bases and Seed to Spoon CIC do not charge for their services. We celebrate different cultures and cuisines and help end food poverty through upskilling people to cook their own meals in our workshops. One of our projects at present is working in YMCA hostels in London , working with groups of vulnerable youths and adults to teach them the skills to independently cook their own simple meals on a restricted budget and use the food they are given by food banks to create nutritious ,tasty meals. Future plans involve working in schools with Pupil Premium families and the most vulnerable children in secondary schools. We offer free cooking workshops for the children and one member of their family to learn to cook simple, nutritious and tasty meals on a restricted budget. We use the food given to us by Neighbourly to source the meals.