Getir Orpington

Open Kitchen is a foodbank set up by Christ Church Orpington in May 2020 in the wake of the pandemic. We collect surplus food from supermarkets and other food outlets, and make it freely available for our local community to collect - without vouchers. Currently we collect from about 25 suppliers and support approximately 100 families each week. Open Kitchen is run by a team of 30 volunteers who hate to see food waste and who want to support local families in need. We are always looking for new volunteers to join the team so that we can reach more in the community and save more food from being thrown away.

Every day, people go hungry in the UK for all kinds of reasons, from changes and delays in the benefits system to redundancy to receiving an unexpectedly large bill for a major repair. A simple box of food makes a big difference, with foodbanks helping prevent crime, housing loss, family breakdown and mental health problems. Bexley Foodbank relies on the support of local people, businesses and communities to help alleviate poverty and hunger in our community. Food donations Non-perishable in-date food is donated by the public at places across the local community, such as schools,churches and businesses, as well as supermarket collection points. It is then sorted and packed into boxes by volunteers, ready to be given to people in need. Food vouchers Care professionals such as doctors, health visitors, schools and social workers identify people in crisis and issue them with a foodbank voucher. They can exchange this voucher for a foodbank parcel of three days’ nutritionally balanced, non-perishable food. The help we give… Our foodbanks offers a lot more than food. Our volunteers offer a listening ear to clients over a warm drink, and signpost people to other charities and agencies who can help resolve the underlying cause of the crisis. There are many ways to help The Trussell Trust as a volunteer from helping at collection points, to stock-taking and audits, to helping us refurbish our premises. We can continue supporting people in crisis thanks to passionate people giving their time to help their hungry neighbours. Please get involved by following our project page and share this project with your friends and followers using the social icons on this page. Click the volunteering tab above to see our upcoming volunteer events and sign up to help us tackle food poverty together.

Our Community Foodbank redistributes surplus food across the SE9 postcode (Eltham & Mottingham) to people who can make good use of it. As well as tinned food and packet/dry goods (offered by many foodbanks), we also provide fresh fruit and vegetables. These are things often lacking in the diets of people on low or restricted incomes. Thanks to Neighbourly, we collect surplus food on a daily basis from M&S Orpington and Lidl Eltham. We also collect food from Sainsbury's Eltham and the Co-op Well Hall Road under other arrangements. Our foodbank desperately needs additional donations - of both food to redistribute and funding to maintain our services. If you are able to help in any way, please get in touch. info@ceyp.org