Just Eat

The Community Fridge project is aimed at reducing food wastage amongst food retailers and householders in the local area, whilst simultaneously supporting the local community by providing food at no charge. In doing to the project also provides employment, training and volunteering opportunities for local people and builds trust and a spirit of sharing within the community. The Albrighton Community Fridge can be found in the Albrighton Community Centre, Camberwell. It is open to members of the public on from Tues - Thurs from 1pm. It works on an honesty basis. There is also a second fridge where food is held specifically for organisations and charities which help vulnerable people locally. Alongside the fridge can be found a Community Cooking kit. The kit operates like a library with items such as blenders, rice cookers, slow cookers and vacuum packs on loan for week-long periods. The library intends to help local households without the means or space to own such items. The items were picked for their ability to support with food waste reduction. It is the first of its kind and you can sign up at the Albrighton Centre reception. On occasion the fridge hosts cooking workshops and other skills sharing events. We are always looking for food donations from local retailers and individuals and volunteers to support with the running of the fridge. The Albrighton Community Fridge is a part of the Hubbub Community Fridge Network.

No Poverty

We opened Evelyn Community Store in Deptford on 26th February 2019. We are in one of the most deprived London boroughs and our aim is to reduce food poverty and the stigma attached to it. The community store offers an alternative to a food bank and ensures members have food each week. It’s run by local volunteers in partnership with Lewisham Homes and FareShare which consists of chilled, frozen, fresh and ambient stock. Members visit the store once a week, pay £3.50 and receive a range of groceries, provided by Fareshare, but we also understand that their is a greater need in the fight to combat food poverty, so any surplus food we are able to obtain is given out free. To be a member of the store you have to either be a family/person or couple on a very low income, or be in receipt of benefits and struggling to pay your bills. We have 85 members and already have a waiting list. The project has made us realise how difficult it is for people on a low income to ensure they are eating at least one meal every day. Whilst our aim is to provide food for our members we have become increasingly aware of how isolated many of our families are. It is almost the festive period and we are hoping to pair up with a store local to us so that we can ensure as many families as possible have food over the Christmas period for a least a few days if not more. It will mean so much to our members to be able to take food home and know that they can eat well and will let members know that they are not forgotten about during the festive period and hard times. Our members consist of young single parents, young couples single people all ranging in ages, as well as the elderly and people who are disabled. Also if there is any chilled foods we can transport them safely in the chill boxes we have.we are currently feeding over 500 mouths a week, and the need is growing week by week. It has had a massive impact on what we do as and how much we give out.