Danone UK & Ireland

The Port Grocery is a not-for-profit Community Interest Company diverting perfectly good food away from landfill for the benefit of our local community. We run a membership based community shop, The Port Grocery which provides high quality affordable food. Members pay a £10.00 a week membership fee which enables them to come into our shop and choose between £20.00 and £30.00 worth of food every week. Our shop operates a ‘Tick and Collect’ system, where members tick items they want from a list and from a board and their shopping is packed for them by our staff and volunteers. A home delivery service, We have a very wide product range including meat, fish, fresh fruit and vegetables, tinned food, cereals, bread, dried food, cakes, cheese, yogurts, ready meals and non food such as washing detergents, shampoo shower gel, washing up liquid, nappies, baby milk, as and when available, school uniforms, clothes, house hold goods, and much more. In conjunction with Flynn's Port in the Storm, Crisis Café and House Hold Support fund we hold a crisis fund that we use for anyone in genuine hardship to help by providing food clothes and household items. food Every week we also run a completely free community lunch, Wednesday Welcome. Our community lunch is open to everyone and provides over 200 hot meals every week. It’s a great place to meet new friends and connect as well as eat some completely free, tasty food all year round. Our volunteers cook up a storm in the kitchen every week using food that otherwise would have gone to waste and turning it into delicious food for everyone. We provide sandwiches, fresh soup, hot meals such as fish pie, pasta bake, stew, puddings, cakes and hot and cold drinks. Wednesday Welcome has also become a focal point in our community which enables individuals to get unmet needs addressed. Our open-door policy ensures we are inclusive and non-discriminatory and removes any stigma from accessing our activities and services. We also divert much needed food and none-food items to local charitable organisation that support vulnerable people in local communities. In addition we provide food to other food groups who do not have the capacity to collect and store supplies.

YMCA Mendip is a fully autonomous, independent, self-governing local charity working for the people of Mendip and South Somerset, with a main focus on (but not restricted to) young people. We specialise in housing & homelessness issues, youth & community work and deliver information, advice & guidance services. The young people who come into our cor housing provision are the most challenging and vulnerable in our communities. Many are care leavers or have left dangerous and complex home lives affected by unemployment, housing problems, domestic violence, neglect and drug and alcohol abuse. As a result, our young people can be traumatised and often experience poor mental health, lack social and practical skills, have low self-esteem, have little or no income and find it difficult to communicate their emotions and engage with traditional services, and are struggling to cope. We currently provide over 100 accommodation units for young people and some adults across Mendip and South Somerset. This consists of supported housing projects, emergency accommodation and dispersed flats (with floating support). We provide a warm, welcoming, and safe home and provide support for young people to develop life skills, prepare for independent living and have access to training, education, employment and social & leisure opportunities.

Our Foodbank has been open for eleven years. During that time, we have helped more than 75 000 people who have been referred to us because they are in crisis. These visitors have all received three days of free emergency food from us. At our outlets in Avonmouth, Henbury, Hotwells, Lawrence Weston & Severn Beach, visitors always find a warm welcome and a listening ear along with much needed food, access to fuel vouchers and other important advice. We create a warm, friendly and inviting space where people feel strengthened and reassured. Members of our team are always happy to spend time sitting with visitors. As one of our clients put it, 'When you’re at your lowest point, the hosts and hostesses always seem to pick you up, dust you down and send you on your way with a kind word and a strengthened soul."