YO! Sushi

Food and Beverage Buggies (FABB) was a group dedicated to taking a hot 2 course meal, drinks, and sandwich bags for the next day out to the Homeless in Norwich, finding them in their doorways, cemeteries, wherever they were. This supplemented the existing work being done by 4 soup kitchen groups at the Haymarket, but filled a very vital mid-week need. Our buggies were filled with food, drinks, warm clothing, boots, sleeping bags etc, and we were out every Thursday, 52 weeks a year, from 7-9pm. During Covid FABB of necessity diversified to meet a growing need in schools and local families, where Covid had taken it's toll. Many families with young children were struggling to make ends meet, often due to job losses and furloughed reduced wages. School age children were going into schools hungry and not able to concentrate fully on lessons. Food poverty and food insecurity was rife, and FABB worked with 2 local schools and 15+ families to take food deliveries into schools to distribute, and taking essential food parcels to the families. This was much needed and appreciated, and we'll carry on as long as there is a hungry child or adult in our community. As the rules were reduced and the country went back to 'normal' FABB found that food poverty was still rife and we concentrated our efforts to help families in distress and hostel residents fighting their pathway back to a home of their own. Food parcels are delivered weekly to families for as long as they are needed, by the same volunteer to build trust. We deliver to doorsteps as most families have no car to collect, and many are housebound. We now deliver weekly to up to 60 families. We cook for a ladies hostel of 31 residents several times a week. Regular food times, combined with good nutrition show a marked improvement in social, mental and physical wellbeing.

“We are fighting food waste and preventing residual food from going to landfill. The residual food is repurposed to ensure no one goes hungry”. We have a retail shop in the centre of High Wycombe. The shop is open 6 days a week. We have a warehouse on the first floor where we can sort and distribute food. This allows us to both run a shop feeding those in need and supply our partner organisations. We are collecting from leading major supermarkets within a 15-mile radius of High Wycombe. We also receive direct deliveries from manufacturers and warehouses. We are also a member of the Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) which represents independent food banks and distributors across the UK. Our Food Hub model allows us to manage not only residual food but also ambient, chilled, and frozen food. The fact we have both a retail and wholesale distribution ability has been identified by Fare share as one of a few operations in SE England with this capability. Who do we supply? WFH supply products to people unable to access or buy food, those that cannot get Government aid or are unable to survive on the Government’s benefit payments, those who are now suffering from loss of jobs and the self-employed who cannot get benefits, those who cannot access the traditional referral foodbanks. The range of people coming to us for help is growing weekly. Considering what is happening nationally the need for our food and services will continue to grow. We have partnered with other charities and groups and we are supplying residual product to food distribution organisations across Bucks. We are also piloting supplying food to partner organisations who are using the ingredients in hot meals and school food packs. Current scale of operation We have volunteers out each day and evenings collecting residual food. We currently collect more than 250 crates a week from leading supermarkets, warehouses, and retail shops. Food that would otherwise go to landfill. We have a retail food hub open 6 days a week for 3 hours each day We are directly feeding Circa 500 people each week through our retail food hub and partners. In addition, we offer free food outside of the hub . Our wholesale operation is supplying both food parcels and crates of food to our partners. We are also now being asked to supply food to be used in the preparation of cooked meals. Our wholesale operation is growing each week as more organisations draw on our services Funding streams We receive no statutory finding from govt of Council. We rely on donations from public and by asking for a donation from users of our retail hub. We also supply food free to the charities and organisations who are taking food from us each week.

We collect surplus food including food which has reached its best before and use by date from suppliers. Using this food, we prepare and serve nourishing meals in our Pay As You Feel Café at Barn Hill Methodist Church every Saturdays 12pm-2pm alongside our Pantry and Community Fridge. Inspired by Adam Smith's 'Real Junk Food Café' in Leeds and frustrated at the amount of good food wasted whilst people go hungry, Second Helpings Stamford opened in October 2015 as a Church and Community Project. We take perfectly edible raw materials from supermarkets, farms and personal supporters in and around Stamford that would otherwise go to waste. This produce is available to the community daily from the Pantry and the Community Fridge, and in delicious, wholesome meals in the Saturday Café where we serve an average of 70 people each week. We are staffed by volunteers and all our food is available on a pay-as-you-feel basis. Stamford Methodist Church is a busy, family oriented church close to the town centre. Committed to inclusivity and social outreach the premises are used by a wide variety of groups from the congregation and the local community.