ALDI BECKTON

May 2026 Update: We at Eden Soup Kitchen continue to use the same premises which is based at: Eden Church Centre, Connaught Rd, Ilford , Essex. Our Services Users come through local organisations: Namely, Highway Vineyard Church centre, The Welcome Centre and Eden Church centre. There appears to be an increase in the number of SU’s due to cost of living crisis. We distribute the surplus products/foodstuffs that we collect from Lidl’s and Aldi to these organisations. This is free of cost and we work on a voluntary basis. Our Service Users are those in need of food, personal hygiene and household products that are difficult to fund from their limited financial resources. Some SU’s are homeless, have physical disabilities, families, are aged and isolated, English may not be their first language and through our distribution support are able to plug shortfalls in their daily lives. We continue to run our Senior Moments sessions whereby our SU have a meal, good social interactions with peers, visits by professionals who inform them of various rights, and outings to places of interest. Our impact appears to much needed and well received by our organisations and SU’s. We are both retired women and we support ourselves in this voluntary endeavour. At present and previously we have not sought media coverage, yet our work is very much required in our local area. We will continue to distribute the surplus that we receive for the foreseeable future. May 2025 Update: Our vision and emphasis on supporting our local community through collecting surplus. The communities in our vicinity remain the same. In the current economic climate we have seen an increase in the need for our services. We continue to operate from Eden Christian Church, Connaught Rd, Ilford, Essex. We tend to identify our services users through the organisations that we interact with. We work alongside Highway Vineyard Church London E12, Welcome Project, Ilford Essex and Eden Church, Ilford. The service users are people within the local community who mainly need food support for them and their families. The number of families with employed parents are reaching out to the centers that we liaise with to help enable them to assist their family needs. We also help support the homeless to sustain them during their unfortunate circumstances by supplying our collected produce surpluses from our designated stores. We help run a ‘Elderly Senior Moments’ club once a week at our home base, whereby we have a generous number of over 60s attend. They have a hot meal, are able to socialize and we engage local services such as health workers, self-protection awareness workers and organisations that help to inform senior citizens of their well-being. Our voluntary services are very much required and we endeavor to continue to collect and distribute for the foreseeable future.

The E6-Sisters Community Pantry, located in the London Borough of Newham, is committed to fostering sustainability and empowerment within our community. We provide residents with weekly access to a pantry where they can choose their preferred food items, rather than receiving predetermined offerings. This empowers households, especially during crises, helping them regain control over their lives. Our pantry serves as a sanctuary, fostering a sense of stability and community ownership. By addressing food insecurity, we believe we can accelerate recovery, enabling residents to explore new opportunities. Our ethos promotes the transition from receiving help to thriving, bridging the gap between taking what is given and selecting what is needed. This approach minimizes waste and encourages fair sharing, ensuring that everyone has access to what they truly need.

We are a volunteer run group focused on reducing food waste and supporting local families in need. Our mission is simple: to make sure no one in our community goes hungry while tackling the growing problem of food surplus. Thanks to our partnerships with Neighbourly, Fareshare and Caboodle, we have benefited from strong relationships with local supermarkets and food providers—including M&S, Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Nando's, KFC, Co-op, Lidl, Aldi, Pret a Manger, and Gail’s Bakery—we rescue surplus food and redistribute it to those who need it most via personal contacts and our Partner Organisations. This gives us the ability to provide varied, nutritious food parcels at no cost to families and individuals facing food insecurity. In addition to fresh food collections, we also stock a community cupboard with ambient and non-perishable items, enabling members of our community to access support anonymously and with dignity. Our recipients are identified through word of mouth and referrals from local schools and community organisations. Each week, we supply the equivalent of 2250 meals to local families and indiviuals as well as primary schools and community groups - ensuring that anyone who needs food can access it easily. Together, we are building a stronger, more sustainable community where food is shared, not wasted.