Sainsbury's Rochford West Street Local

The Storehouse is a Community Cafe, Foodbank and advice centre for those on the margins of society in Southend on Sea. We deal primarily with those experiencing food poverty whether they are homeless, or simply on a low income. We currently have 4351 registered users of our service, covering 2.48% of the population of the Borough. We gave out 18,622 food parcels in 2020, from an estimated 110.6 tons of produce. This was distributed during the Covid-19 pandemic where In a usual week, we will see on average, 340 people collect a food parcel. The Community Cafe has had to close during this time due to the social distancing measures and cleaning/hygiene requirements, but we anticipating opening again once out of tiered regulations.

Garon Park Youth Club is a non-profit youth club, set up in August 2022, to provide Southend and the surrounding areas young people with a safe and enjoyable place to come and spend time with friends, and to make new ones. Staffed almost entirely by a team of dedicated volunteers, the club has grown in numbers to over 450 signed up members, and is committed to providing a much needed service to the youth of Southend. Some of our members are from low income backgrounds, and we strive to provide cooking activities every week, both to teach an important life skill, but also to ensure that no young people go home from youth club hungry. We also do craft activities, and various sports, games and everything associated with a traditional youth club. We run on a low budget, and although we do always provide everything the members need for their sessions, we would love to have donations of food or grants to be able to provide additional activities and equipment. Any donations will go directly to helping the youth of Southend and surrounding areas, and will have a positive impact on both the members lives and also on the local community.

We provide essential food items to families in the Rochford District . Before the pandemic we were helping 20 now it has risen to cover 100 with more coming to us weekly. We are are the school holidays are here and holiday hunger being a recognised issue. We want to ensure that we are well places D to help to address this.