Lidl Houghton Regis - Houghton Road

The cause is to feed the people spiritually and physically We are a community and have extended to a food bank, striving to eradicate hunger in the community, Our food bank network helps people break free from poverty by providing additional support to help people resolve the crises they're facing so that they don't need to use a food bank again in the future. This could include things like debt advice, mental health support, or benefits guidance . In addition to reducing hunger, our food banks help to build communities by providing jobs and being gifted left over food ,goods and services from local businesses, creating an economic stimulus in the areas they serve. Importantly, food donations also help low-income families free up money to meet other basic needs.we currently collect from 6 co-operative stores on a daily base,And we collect from the Costco store in Bushy and Hayes, We partner with CLF and a few other churches and we have decided to open another distribution centre in the middle of Bury park the heart of Luton ,which will be an easy get to point due to the flow of public transport and the town centre being only a 10 minute walk away .And Our work with Neighbourly is a key part to be able to support local people.. We currently have volunteers on standby ready to pick up food from any location. In and around Luton

We provide two main services, the first is food parcels to those in our community that are struggling financially. Parcels are issued fortnightly to between 70 & 100 individuals & families, providing them with sufficient food for at least one meal per day until the next parcel is due. We also provide monthly toiletry packs, and cleaning packs. This service is free to those in need, and self referrals are welcomed. This is based at our first premises, a warehouse where parcels are made & can be collected. Alongside this, we also store the stock for the second service we provide. This second service is a Community Fridge & Social Supermarket. The community fridge provision allows us to bring together all the food collected from the local supermarkets and food providers that they are no longer able to sell. It is all checked it meets Government food safety standards, before it is displayed in our Shop for anyone in the local community to pop in & choose from. There is no charge for this service, although donations are very welcome towards our costs. We have a fair usage policy for this service. In addition to this, our shop also acts as a Social Supermarket, where we sell items donated to us by Amazon, they are no longer able to sell. This could be damaged packaging, or end of lines, and can range from cans of pop to cleaning products, clothing, toiletries and other items. Everything we sell is again checked for breakages, expiry dates etc, and sold at least 66% below the market pricing and the shop is open 5 days per week, plus a Saturday market stall. Whilst the above is the core of our support services, we have a policy to ensure we look at other areas of support that may be needed. In the past we have purchased beds, white goods, clothing and other items that have been needed to ensure our service users have access to their basic needs. We have connections with local schools, care homes, Rotary, Scouting groups, & other charities whom we assist with donations when required. We have a regular programme for Duke of Edinburgh students to do their volunteering, as well as a local school for children with behaviour difficulties. We give them an opportunity they wouldn't normally have, to come do work experience with us in our warehouse, or stock is taken to them to pack for us for those not able to visit us. We have regular visits & chats with local scout & guide groups, helping them earn their community badges too. We have around 75 volunteers making all this work, and two paid employees as team leaders.

With the levels of unemployment, along with the number of low-paid employees living in Brent, many residents find themselves at a crisis point. They are unable to feed their families and provide for life’s basic needs. There may, however, be many other challenges within the family, which may contribute to the family crisis. It is bearing this in mind that the Centre of Help and Hope was conceived. The Centre provides the following services: Food bank Clothing hub Befriending service Gardening services Counselling services Light domestic help Vocational skills Intentional parenting courses