Getir Abbey Wood

World of Hope is committed to raising Youth Ambassadors that will become tomorrow's leaders through our mentoring, training, coaching, and citizenship programmes which will equip them to positively impact their communities. World of Hope has a food bank that distributes food to families with no recourse to public funds, refuge, unemployed and those affected by Covid. We support young people to break the circle of crime. We also provide food for elderly and lonely people in Lewisham, Greenwich, Southwark and Bexley boroughs. We partner with the police, social services and youth offending services. World of Hope has been in operation since 2005. We have been running the Youth Centre for our Youth Academy in Abbeywood since 2008. During the first lockdown the Youth Academy had to close and we had a lot of parents phoning us reporting a lack of food. This was because a lot of workplaces had to close so parents weren’t earning money so couldn’t afford food. We started contacting stores and individuals for food, then created the foodbank. Our food distribution was broadcasted by the BBC during the Covid outbreak in April 2021 which exposed our excellent work and led to a huge increase in demand for our foodbank. We are supported by Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency, Morrisons, Tesco and FareShare. We’re experiencing greater and greater demand for our services, especially food. We identify the needs of the people in the community by assessing their income and status. People do not like to beg for food but when they have no choice they come to us and we provide them with adequate and healthy food stuff that give them Hope. Now they come to Hope up about their mental health issues, housing and children challenges. We don’t charge for our foodbank services. World of Hope received Mayor Award in Lewisham Council in 2020, we also received Mayor Award in 2021 from Royal B. Greenwich; we were nominated by my Councillor Anne Marie- Cousins.

At the moment during the Covid Pandemic we are running a food bank for people in Bexley Borough. We do not ask for vouchers as we find that demeaning and everyone should be entitled to food. We are asking for help with donations to the food bank either monetary or in food. We are also looking to help out with Christmas Hampers these will include a Turkey, vegetables and other Christmas items. We are looking for a company to help us deliver this project. Howbury Friends runs a multitude of projects but our aim for this project is in 3 parts: 1) To collect food surplus and create menus and cookery activities for all ages in the community and to distribute any unused food out to the community. 2) To provide educational activities for all ages, with a safe environment and achievable outcomes such as cookery projects, arts and crafts etc. 3) To support families and adults to help them get back into education, stay in mainstream school or get employment or further education,

The Community Centre provides excellent sport & recreational facilities to the local and wider community. Tel: 0208 311 5550 We support a variety of projects including: Bexley SNAP’s Empire and Vibe Youth Clubs, Reinstate Employment programme, GT Sports and Hollywood Performing Arts, dance, drama and singing group. Our programme of activities include: o Badminton group - Mondays 12noon or ring to hire the court o Tap dancing - Mondays from 5.30pm o Miniwave Toddler Activities - Tuesdays 9.30am o Tai Chi (AgeUK) - Tuesdays 2.30pm o Under 5's Football - Wednesdays 9.30-11am o Wave gymnastics Wednesdays 5-6pm o Kenshukai Karate and Mixed martial arts - Wednesdays 7.30pm o Toddler sports session - Thursdays 11.00-11.45am o Hollywood Performing Arts, Dance, Drama and Singing 4.30-8.30pm o Family Martial Arts sessions - Saturdays o Drum Club and Piano tutor - Saturdays o Ballroom dancing - Friday 10am o Asian ladies exercise group o Over 50s fitness groups - Thursdays 10am o Church groups (currently suspended due to COVID) o Private tuition groups o NEW!! Art Class starting in September 2021 o NEW!! Gardening project - volunteers welcome (call 0208 311 5550) • We provide space for residents and public meetings • We offer rooms for training, seminars and for local business meetings • Our large hall is available 2-6pm for Children’s birthday parties (currently suspended due to COVID • We hold local community events: eg Tea Dances, Easter Hunt, Halloween and Christmas parties