Sainsbury's Dorking

Young people who have experienced childhood trauma, or escaped domestic violence, too often become homeless. Sleeping on sofas or in hostels, they struggle to find work with devastating effect on their self-confidence and mental health. It’s a vicious spiral that’s hard to break. That’s where Amber comes in. Amber provides a residential centre for homeless young people from a disadvantaged background, where we provide a safe temporary home and the practical support needed for the young people to repair their shattered lives. In a calm and nurturing environment – we provide a mix of support, structure, new experiences and training that builds their motivation, confidence, self-discipline and skills. We help them address any specific issues that may be holding them back, helping them to move on from their troubled pasts and find the self-belief and determination to move forward. Our approach is holistic allowing the young people to build the skills and self-confidence to transform their lives.

Operating primarily within the most underserved postcode of Chessington within the Royal Borough of Kingston, New Era was conceived by a group of like-minded people based on one man’s intuitive vision; to attempt to ensure that our grandchildren and subsequent generations can enjoy this incredible world in safety and to eliminate the dilemma of 'Heat or Eat.' We provide any useable items that are discarded by retailers to others without asking them to meet with any criteria (our sole purpose is that of offering hope to those who have little and don't know where to find any, completely free of all judgement.) We also have a large contingent of users who visit our projects to save food from landfill. There is no charge made for any of our redistributed produce. We use some free surplus food within our three Square 1 Cafes, where 'everyone is welcome and everything is free.' These are safe, secure environments that promote togetherness and friendship and help those dealing with social isolation. https://www.facebook.com/groups/square1cafe We continue to distribute surplus food and pantry items collected via supermarket Customer Donation Points to our Community Fridge located at St Mary's Centre in Chessington, helping those living in one of the most underserved postcodes within the Royal Borough of Kingston. Open Tuesdays and Saturdays from 10AM until 1PM. All of our projects hold a 5* Food Hygiene Rating from Kingston Environmental Health Office. As of February 2026 we rely on some 67 volunteers providing 255 hours PER WEEK across our venues. Our newest project SKY Cafe is dedicated to our young carers' within the community and operates every month from our base at St Mary's Centre in Chessington. Food, activities and much fun and laughter is the order of the day.

We have three hubs located in central Dorking, Goodwyns and Leatherhead. where we put good, surplus food which local people can take. Our mission is to reduce surplus food from being wasted and to make it available to our community. We collect daily from local supermarkets, and also collect food from FareShare, for which we pay a fee. Since 2017 we have saved 1,737 tonnes of food from being thrown away! COVID We changed our operation to food parcel delivery to people referred to us by statutory agencies and the community. We now have 3 static fridge sites: Dorking, Goodwyns and Leatherhead and we have a Mobile Fridge on the road serving rural Mole Valley. The point is to reduce food waste, and happily, we are also reaching those in our community who find themselves in food poverty.