GAIL's Bakery Twickenham

The Food with Love Community Pantry is a community food club, run by and for its members offering good quality, healthy and nutritious food through low cost membership. In June this year (2022) Food with Love (FwL) launched a new and innovative service aimed to empower the residents of the London Borough of Hounslow. The FwL Community Pantry helps families living on the threshold to sustain their livelihoods whilst maintaining their self worth and dignity. We are a community resource; here for those who need us. Our main aim is to; - Support and strengthen the self-esteem of members - Increase self-reliance and resilience - Reduce reliance on food banks. Each member makes a small contribution towards the cost of the food they choose during their weekly visit to the Pantry. To ensure that essential staples are always available the Pantry reinvests all of its member’s fees to buying stock. One of the ethos of FwL is to help decrease the amount of food that is needlessly sent to landfill each year. FwL collects and redistributes surplus stock from supermarkets and food manufacturers within the London Borough of Hounslow. The nature of suppliers means that the supplies are varied every week.

As Shepherd’s Star, we come alongside people who’ve experienced life challenges and who desire to move forward, to: ● learn new skills ● grow in confidence ● improve their wellbeing ● reconnect with community and ● actively contribute to society We achieve this through: ● our Explore programme ● our monthly Table of Hope ● our weekly Twickenham Good Friday project ● regular socially engaging, inclusive activities ● volunteering opportunities within Shepherd’s Star and the partners we signpost to and ● introductions to a network of community support Our flagship programme Explore, offers a number of workshop activities including introductions to wellbeing, budgeting, cooking, barista, gardening and woodwork. Our weekly Good Friday project and monthly Table of Hope are designed to create a sense of belonging, of social inclusion, of being seen, heard and appreciated - all of which builds our participants' confidence, encourages friendships, inspires hope and supports social engagement. Our aim is for every individual to live a more connected, hopeful and rewarding life. Surplus food donations: We are looking for support with regards to donations of surplus food to our weekly Good Friday project mentioned above. Every Friday, from 12-3pm we host a social community pop-in at the Twickenham United Reformed Church, on the edge of Twickenham Green. To day, food has been lovingly provided by our volunteers and surplus pastry donations from GAIL's Bakery in Twickenham. Our Good Friday project is free and open to all. We welcome between 40-50 guests each week, who join us for a chat over a cuppa and something delicious to eat. Our guests are drawn from local community and hear about us through word of mouth, social media advertising and referrals from the partner agencies we collaborate alongside. At Good Friday, in addition to a meal, we offer a warm welcoming space for social connection and inclusion, a second-hand clothing rail, toiletries and items of need, opportunities to signpost to social services - as well as crafts and activities on our Feature Fridays. In addition to our Facebook page, you can view us on instagram: @shepherdsstarcharity and/or youtube: @shepherdsstarcharity. We raise the profile of Shepherd's Star across social media channels and through the collaboration and networking of local partners receiving regular referrals from: DWP Job Centre, RUILS, MIND, St Mungos, Riverbank Trust, Look Ahead Mental Health, REED In Partnership, RCDAS, Richmond Work Match, Constituency Office for Liberal Democrats, Foodbanks, Community Centres and SPEAR.

We offer a morning drop-in Monday - Friday, 9am - 11am, providing casework, a hot breakfast, surplus food, clothing, showers, nursing, telephone, internet and postal services, tea and coffee and connection to a supportive community. All our services are complimentary. We are also a hub for other outreach services who we work closely with, e.g. Glassdoor, St Mungo's, Salvation Army Employment Service, RCDAS (Richmond Community Drug and Alcohol Service), Spear Homeless Charity. Our charity shop sells affordable clothing and bric-a-brac and supports vulnerable guests with free clothing and items for setting up a new home. All profits are used for the benefit of our charitable work. The Richmond Foodbank provides emergency food for local people in crisis. It also operates at other locations across the borough. We work with local referral partners who assess people's needs and issue free vouchers to use at our foodbank. We also host other groups and services in the afternoons such as Citizens Advice, Mind Craft Group, Ukrainian Support Group and a Women's Hub.