Sainsbury's Irvine

We collect food donations from supermarkets, churches and individuals throughout South Ayrshire and provide three days emergency food to people in crisis. Food is brought to our warehouse premises where our team of volunteers weigh and sort it into different types of food. Our volunteers then make up boxes of emergency food. Each box contains breakfast, lunch, dinner, tea, coffee, sugar and snacks for 3 days. The boxes are nutritious and we also when available also provided toiletries. The boxes are then delivered to our 6 hubs across South Ayrshire where clients can collect them. We partner with other organisations who meet people on a day to day basis who require our help. They assess the client's situation and where necessary they issue one of our food vouchers to their clients. The client then takes their voucher to their nearest hub and collects their food. The volunteers at our hubs welcome clients and will often signpost them to other agencies where they have disclosed other issues.

We are a local food bank run by volunteers from Crosshouse Community Association, helping our local community by providing food help to anyone who needs it. We always ensure everyone is treated with the utmost dignity by not asking about their personal circumstances. Our volunteers also support those in the community who need advice to find out what benefits they may be entitled to and to provide them with assistance on finding and receiving support for their mental health.

Lochwinnoch Food Committee is a dignified food project with a Pantry distributing surplus food from supermarkets four days per week. We deliver parcels to vulnerable houses on a fifth day, and out Community Fridge/Freezer is open 24/7 for members. Membership is free and we operate on a pay-what-you can donation basis. We have nearly 2000 members and more than 70 volunteers aged from 12 to 80! The aims of the projects are to tackle food insecurity locally as well as the climate emergency. We grow our own food too in local sites. The Larder is about more than just food though - it's a social hub where friendships form and people connect. We're reducing social isolation and also helping to signpost people to other support services; it's easy to fall through the gaps when living rurally. People from across Renfrewshire and North Ayrshire access the project - all are welcome! We also run free cooking classes as fermenting demonstrations. We also have two sister-projects: the Feel Good Festival is a programme of wellbeing events designed to help build community, connect people and tackle mental health. We also have Diggin' It which is an initiative supporting people to grow their own food from their own homes. It includes a free Seed Library and a garden equipment swap-shop. We are also developing a new project idea to help us become more financially sustainable. the idea is for this to be a retail space and Community Hub. We hope to develop a community kitchen, charity shop and pop-up eatery which we can use for all the projects and could also help generate some income. Between the projects, we can use pretty much any kind of surplus - food, kitchen equipment, homeware, clothes, decorating equipment and tools, gardening equipment and plants.