Argos Livingston (Inside Sainsbury's)

We aim to help people living in poverty, deprivation (and in work poverty-the working poor) as they have significantly worse life outcomes than those in average households. Individuals who do less well in life, are more likely to be unemployed or in poorly paid jobs and will generally have poorer health and shorter lives. This is a tragedy, but is a consequence of being born into poverty and living in poorer households. The area we engage with people are from Knightsridge. Knightsridge has decile zones that measure in the bottom 5% on the social index of multiple deprivation for West Lothian. Adjoining neighbourhoods who use our service; Carmondean, Deans and Ladywell, also measure highly on SIMD The Food Outlet is open 2 days a week Tuesday and Thursday. We collect food from the Neighbourly stores, Aldi, Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencers. The food is given free to the customers who attend the shop. The shop gets funding from West Lothian Food Network, which we use to buy fresh meat, dairy and frozen food. A donation is asked for these items. This allows the customers to come and pick out the food they like giving them dignity. This saves them lot of money on healthy food.

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. West Lothian 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 seven 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 Catalyst Kitchen provides a dignified response to food insecurity and making sure that no one in West Lothian goes hungry. We operate an emergency food delivery initiative that allows us to work with a wide range of partners to receive referrals for those who need support from households to local community fridges and homeless accommodation. For those who are experiencing food insecurity, The Larder uses redistributed and donated ingredients to provide fresh, nutritious and home cooked meals. The Larder also accepts donations of food to help in the fight against food poverty, and through seasonal initiative and collaboration redistribute the donations to ensure that we support those who need it most. Neighbourly's donated food is available free of charge within our community shop to help those that need it most. Everyone is welcome.