Getir Croydon

Each week we collect excess fresh food from local supermarkets, including Waitrose, Tesco, Aldi and M&S Food. This is usually food that is approaching its shelf-life and cannot be sold. Every Saturday afternoon we distribute this healthy food to local families and individuals in Croydon from our distribution point in Thornton Heath. We take referrals from Social Services, schools, family centres and medical centres. We also accept self-referrals from clients who can demonstrate they are on benefits, low income or otherwise in need. Our aim is to enable disadvantaged people and families to maintain a healthy diet while on a low income or no income at all. We also increase awareness of the problem of plastic pollution by encouraging clients to bring their own bags, by giving out re-cyclable bags ourselves and by distributing as much food as possible without plastic packaging.

We are a community that uses food and people power to build new ways to live together, based on care, solidarity and collaboration. Our vision is for a society where power, wealth and democracy are equally distributed, where charities and charity cases no longer exist, and instead citizens give what they can and get what they need to enjoy life. The kitchen is much more than just a place to eat! It's where people form new friendships and a sense of belonging. Launched in 2017 by a small group of committed local people looking to provide free food for local homeless people, we now welcome hundreds of people every week to our table and are run by a huge group of incredible volunteers who keep the big ship sailing. We are grateful to our generous donors, funders past and present, and guests for enabling us to keep doing what we do, as well as for our incredible space at Socco Cheta Community Hub that we share with Croydon Domino’s Club and the Association of Jamaicans in Great Britain.

We run a range of activities at the centre. We have an Over 55s Lunch Club to reduce isolation in the area, we promote healthy living decisions, and our Step Forward programme gives advice and support on income maximisation, family health, housing, employment and training. In addition to this, we run a drop-in cafe working with different organisations across the borough of Merton to provide information about services that can help local people, providing free tea and coffee, a warm place to sit and social and exercise events. We would love to continue to thrive to support our community even more. Please follow our project and share our work with your community.