Sainsbury's Edinburgh Longstone

The Community One Stop Shop is based at 3 Broomhouse Market. It is a Scottish Charity that recognises the need for a local advice and information service, to compliment the work of other agencies and community based organisations that contribute to the quality of life for people living in the Broomhose, North Sighthill and neighbouring areas. Within the shop we have many services which allow us to run a ‘Food Bank Plus’ model. The food bank has existed here since 2012 and we are very proud of the system we have in place. The plus model means we go further than the simple distribution of food to those in crisis in the local area. Within the shop we also have an Employability worker and a Citizens Advice worker who can be accessed by appointment or at our weekly drop-ins. Having these qualified professionals on site allows those in crisis to gain the support and the tools to improve their lives for themselves. The food bank allows for both referrals from outside services and for individuals to self-refer from the local community. If self-referred you will be asked a few questions so we can get a bit of insight in to the person’s life. Once we do that we will provide three days’ worth of food for the client and their family. If through the interview we can discover a way our other services can benefit the client’s situation we will organise an appointment. We have a referral system set up from many other projects including; Young Carers, Broomhouse Young Carers, Wester Hailes Youth Agency, Social Care Direct, Housing Association and the Y People, amongst others. Many of those projects are based outside the local area but we are more than willing to support referred clients from anywhere. Many of those referral agencies support the youngest, most vulnerable members of our society. The ‘Y People’ is a young person’s homeless accommodation who we have a great working relationship with. The food bank is seeing around 90 to 100 people a month at the moment and is need of regular donations to cope with need from the local area and beyond. Our employability worker Evelyn offers support and guidance with interview techniques, CV writing, online job searches and anything else in the field of job attainment. We also organise computer based training from external sources. This sector of COSS is crucial and we expect it to grow in the coming months and years. Our Citizens Advice worker Ruth offers advice, information and practical assistance on a range of topics. Be it debt issues, housing, benefits, education legal rights or immigration amongst many others. Furthermore we have an outreach worker in once a week to provide advice solely on on benefits and another who provides a ‘rent surgery’ which supports local tenants with rent issues. Lastly we have recently became a C card service to give local people over 16 free contraception. This is another example of our project reacting to the needs of the local community.

The Food Rescue Group, Edinburgh was established by Ankita Gupta, a student at the University of Edinburgh, to address the growing challenges of food waste, climate change, and local food insecurity. In an era defined by environmental strain, resource scarcity, and ecological imbalance, this initiative is both timely and essential. A core focus of our work is tackling food waste, a significant issue that results in the loss of valuable resources and contributes substantially to methane emissions from landfill. Addressing this problem is both an environmental necessity and a moral responsibility, as redistributing surplus food can provide meaningful support to local families and individuals in need. We work closely with local producers and retailers to ensure surplus food is rescued rather than discarded. These partnerships allow businesses to reduce disposal costs while delivering measurable environmental and social benefits to the community. Local food collection and distribution across Edinburgh is led by Suyash and Mariana, with vital support from Ankita and Alba , who oversees volunteer scheduling, manages collections, and ensures timely delivery to recipient locations. Their leadership helps maintain efficiency, safety, and a strong community-centred approach in all our operations. Our mission is powered by dedicated local volunteers who collect and distribute surplus food shortly after it becomes available. This rapid turnaround ensures freshness, removes the need for storage, and upholds the highest standards of food safety and quality. Every item is carefully inspected, and any food deemed unsuitable is disposed of responsibly to minimise environmental impact. Volunteer coordination is managed through a dedicated WhatsApp group, providing real-time updates on collection times, locations, and available quantities. This streamlined communication system enables fast response times and ensures the smooth running of our rescue and redistribution efforts. Through this initiative, we are significantly reducing methane emissions and resource waste by diverting large volumes of food from landfill. Our work benefits those in immediate need while remaining open to anyone who values food, sustainability, and responsible consumption. By engaging a broad cross-section of the community, we foster shared ownership of the solution to food waste. As we continue to refine our approach, we are making meaningful progress towards a more sustainable and inclusive future. Join us in Edinburgh and help make a difference, one meal, one volunteer, and one community at a time.

The centre was established in 1995 and since then we have created a space for the community to use and to develop. We run our own groups and projects as well as work in partnership with other to provide services that support the community. Within the Centre we run Café@ONC our community café, which we serves the community through providing the following: A welcome place for people to come. Great tasting affordable food. Cooking Classes. Junior Bake Off Classes. Volunteering and Training Opportunities for young people. Place for isolated or lonely people to come, enjoy and have fun. Café @ ONC is located in the middle of our building and is also central to everything we do at the centre. It is used by all our groups and provides much more than the food it serves. It provides friendship, a welcome place to come and opportunity to move forward and build relationship. Volunteering is also at the heart of what we do as a centre, with only one paid member of staff we offer a number of volunteering opportunities these include the following: Community Café Volunteer, Garden Volunteer, After School Club Volunteer and Baby and Toddler Group Volunteer. These opportunities in the past have helped: • Retired individuals gain from voluntary work in various ways. • Young people gain training and volunteering experience in order for them gain vital experience and references before going into work. • Individuals who face challenging mental health issues, look after their mental health and general wellbeing through participating in voluntary work. In recent years we have increased the number of groups and projects using the centre and now have over 400 people each week using the centre. We also run 4 different and large community events each year bringing together around 250 people each time to build friendships, have a free fun day out and support each other longer term, through the friendships people make. As well as the community cafe the other groups, projects and services include: • Parents, baby and toddler groups • Older peoples gentle exercise classes and health walks • After school club, • Yogabellies, • Youth café, • Sewing group, • Dance classes, • Job club, • Community café • Disabled Art Group We are a centre run by the community for the community. This is key to meeting the above aims