Pret Glasgow, Central Station

To assist the “Homeless” and others on the pavement, or in hostels, or in the community generally, who are in need of assistance. This may be visually / verbally / writing asking for help, looking like they need assistance or simply presenting as in need of assistance. Assistance comes in the form of our 2 initiatives - the TWALK and the TDROP The TWALK, provides hot drinks, soup, other foods and warm clothing on a non-judgemental basis for those who present as needing support. And it provides a listening ear for people who find themselves living in isolation and provides information and moral support service and some signposting, to more formal and expert help, to those on the streets who seek it. Our TWALK activity roams the streets of the Glasgow City centre, looking - often in their customary places - for those in need of help. We are often approached directly on the street by those seeking help who identify us by our Hi Viz jackets. The TDROP, promotes the ethos of ‘zero waste’ by working with stores in Glasgow to ensure that any food that they have, due to be disposed of, can be used by the Project. By distributing these goods to those who present as needing support or to “Homeless” shelters., or to Community food initiatives. Our TDROP activity uses a directory we compiled and keep up to date of Hostels for the homeless as the targeted venues for our food deliveries. No charge is ever levied.  Conversely we sometimes receive donations in cash in the moment from members of the public observing us carrying out our activity.  This is used to directly fund supplies for our project. In addition we would hope to continue to participate in toy donation activities especially at Xmas, with our main focus being on a Children's Hospice. We hope also to continue to make occasional donations of "hardware" such as laptops. bikes, fridges, freezers, and dishwashers. We would hope to repeat an initiative this Xmas Eve, replicating last year, of distributing parcels (mainly food). This was organised by two of our volunteers and supported by some others. We have a storage facility rented from Safestore at Port Dundas, Glasgow, but our preparatory activity is done within the homes of the volunteers. We collect donated food from various stores - see below - in accordance with any rules that they apply. We are members of the Glasgow Community Food Network, and of the Interfaith Food Justice Network.

We run two projects under the banner of The Everlasting Foodbank. Our foodbank is for people to receive emergency food in times of crisis or need. We also give people clothing, toiletries and a friendly face to chat with. Alongside food we encourage people to sit with us and chat over some coffee/tea and buiscuits. Sometimes we find that we can be the only people that someone talks to that day. We have been well supported by the local community who find us to be reassuringly approachable. Up to today we have fed over 1600 people after opening for just about 4 years. The hope and aim is to be able to be a resource for the community and help people with their immediate need but also help them to recover from their current crisis situation. We have recently launched a community cafe. This helps people in need (those who would qualify to use the foodbank) with free hot food made by our team of volunteer chefs. There is encouragement of socialising between cafe users and similar to the foodbank we have people who will sit and talk with users. The cafe provides job experience for those who use the foodbank by letting them volunteer in the cafe itself. This greatly helps to move people from reliance on foodbanks to get back into work. Alongside the cafe we also provide a one-to-one drop-in centre for help and signposting.

We are an independent food bank providing a range of grocery and store cupboard items to the most vulnerable in society. No referrals are necessary and we are staffed entirely by volunteers. The food bank operates from the rectory of St Gregory's so there are no overhead costs. All donations of food and money are used directly to help those in need including young families, those suffering with addiction issues, refugees and asylum seekers.