Sainsbury's Addiscombe Local

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 at Guiding Hands aim to encourage and inspire lifelong learning and support positive life choices, whilst promoting resilience through tailored training, mentoring and personal development, doing this through our program Foodie Friday encouraging all regardless of age, culture or religion in healthy eating and wellbeing choices highlighting the high percentage of children, young people and families living within disadvantage areas of Croydon making unhealthy choices in food and lifestyles due to circumstances. Our main program Foodie Friday has been hugely popular. across the borough - carrying out our work in association with Children centres, schools, local grassroots companies, and supermarkets in delivering a program geared towards healthy eating, making quick, easy healthy dishes, and helping young people to become kitchen confident. for all the family, finding different solutions to adapting common dishes and alternatives to fast foods Fridays and making it a Foodie Friday.

We would like to help feed our vulnerable families finding it hard to buy food. At times where cost of living has risen, we have found many families struggling without speaking out and we would like to give those families a chance to feed their families.