M&S Croydon Purley Way

we are a social supermarket offering families who are finding things hard at the moment, £20-30 worth of fresh, chilled, frozen and tinned food. Alongside this we offer an extensive choice of support from experts and charities. those who can afford to, are asked to pay a membership fee of £3.50 each week, this isn't to pay for the food but to contribute to some of the other costs of the project. People are never turned away and if someone is unable to pay, they are always given food and access to the amazing array of support services that are on offerto everyone who comes to one of our sessions. Our strap line is that we are 'a hand up, not a hand out' and our aim is to restore the dignity that poverty so often strips from people by seeing them as individual human beings and offer them the dignity of choice, particularly in the food that they take. Our support team are amazing at what they do and have seen many people get to the point where they no longer need the services of Food Stop as they have either cleared debt, discovered benefits they didn't know they were entitled to or moved into full time employment. Our regualar Jobs Fairs have seen over 80 people find emplyment in the last year alone.

ln August 2007, ECE recieved a Certificate of Appreciation on behalf of 300,000 members of the IYF (International Youth Fellowship) for our contribution to the UK branch. In September 2008, Esther Community Enterprise was awarded certificates from the Lord Mayor of Croydon, for having carried out 100 hours of volunteering activities. On the 2 June 2011, ECE was awarded with theQueens Award for Voluntary Service, MBE. This is the highest award given to voluntary groups in the United Kingdom, and as such, is equivalent in status to the MBE. This prestigious UK National Honour recognises outstanding voluntary contributions and sets the national benchmark for excellence in volunteering, with the work of those awarded being judged to be of the highest standard. We aim to meet those who have needs in the local community by redistribution of food and other consumables donated from retailers. ECE makes a worthwhile collective response to the 3 tenets of sustainable development, namely social, economical and environmental needs. ECE forms a consortium with other charities, faith groups, projects and organisations. We have over 70 Project Co-ordinators. They manage and help to distribute the food/groceries and clothing items within the local communities across the UK, on behalf of ECE. We have sustained our social enterprise through the goodwill and hard work of over 400 drivers and countless volunteers, who contribute their time, transportation and finance to this worthy cause. Near sell by date food is collected on a daily basis from a range of supermarkets and other retailers and diverted to those that need it most ECE feeds in excess of 40,000 people per week and this is steadily on the increase as we expand across the UK

This project supports the fantastic work that Palmer House does for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness. I have been collecting food for this purpose for some ten years! Based in Croydon, Palmer House supports 60 single people up to 65 years of age with complex needs including experience of homelessness or rough sleeping, substance misuse and mental ill health. Customers are referred to Palmer House by the London Borough of Croydon and stay up to two years. The charity empowers them to make decisions about their support, including choosing their Support Worker. This person centred approach enables customers to identify their existing strengths and skills so they can achieve their goals and aspirations. The team at Palmer House believes customers can move beyond their current support needs and achieve their full potential by developing new skills and accessing opportunities. Whilst at Palmer House, customers engage in developing life and independent living skills including developing routine and structure, fostering positive relationships, healthy eating and cooking.