Gallagher Bassett

Set up over 130 years ago, Blackfriars Settlement is a vibrant community hub deeply embedded in the local community. We support over 400 older people each year through our Positive Ageing service (PA) and 120+ people with mental health challenges through our Mental Health & Wellbeing service, as well as providing adult education to 1000+ students. We also support local grassroots and peer support organisations, provide a free legal clinic, a free osteopathy clinic, and run a social integration project aimed at bridging the divides between different local communities.

We are a poverty alleviation and community empowerment nonprofit promoting equitable access to food, housing, healthcare, education, and an adequate standard of living for individuals and families. We work with various segments of the community including homeless people, refugees, rough sleepers, and individuals and families living in extreme poverty. Refuge Network runs a soup kitchen at Charing Cross. We also operate several outreach programmes providing food and survival packs in various locations, including Victoria, Leicester Square, Brixton, Camden, Clapham, London Bridge, Waterloo, and Goodge Street. We provide food, clothing, tents, sleeping bags, phones, survival kits, other material supplies, and advice to the homeless, refugees, struggling individuals, and families living in poverty. Due to the cost of living crisis, our service is receiving unprecedented requests for assistance. We are seeing more suffering on the streets and can feel the urgency of the situation. A visitor to our soup kitchen told us he was finding it difficult to remain on his feet due to hunger. It was heartbreaking seeing him sitting dejectedly by the streets complaining he had no strength to move on. Around the same period, our team members at Southwark spent time consoling an injured homeless woman on a wheelchair who was weeping profusely by the roadside due to hunger and homelessness. While Refuge Network has made great strides in providing support to thousands of homeless people and rough sleepers, the situation with many service users remains desperate. We are expanding services to cater for more individuals and families in underserved areas, so we urgently need food, clothing, toiletries, blankets, bags, household goods, and anything you can give to support the cause. Volunteers are also needed to meet growing demands. Thank you very much for your support!

At Flow Happy our goal is to offer free products strategically across 385 locations across the city, eradicating period poverty in London, one location at a time. Women, girls, or menstruating people should not have to travel more than 0.5miles for free period products. We believe it's a necessity, not a want – period! We envision a London where period products are as common as toilet paper and hand soap in public toilets. Flow Happy actively places free period products in strategically located cabinets and stations across London's libraries, community centres, and other public spaces. We currently support 2,160 individuals a month (November 2023). Since our inception Flow Happy has supplied over 223,440 period products to women, girls and menstruating individuals in our communities. Beyond providing essential products, we are committed to education and awareness initiatives surrounding period poverty and women's wellbeing and reproductive health. Additionally, we encourage the use of more affordable, reusable, and sustainable feminine hygiene products.