• Norwood Forum

Food

SUPPORT - for you, your family, a relative, friend, neighbour or anyone that you know
HELP - how you can volunteer, donate money or food, or help in other ways

Details on urgent need through to free cooked meals, lists of shops doing home deliveries, our neighbourhood Cargo Bike service - and also ways you can help others.

SUPPORT
IMMEDIATE 
SUPPORT by phone or online
In an Emergency
Phone 999 for life threatening emergencies, immediate threat of violence, or a crime is in progress.
There is currently NO general 24hour emergency support service available in Lambeth.

These are the main services that are available, please note the times and days:

My Community Gateway service, run by AgeUK Lambeth, can help you with advice and support to connect up with local services that can help you, whatever challenge you are facing. You can ask for help for you or for someone you know. The service is for anyone who is over 18 in Lambeth.
Call Gateway on 0333 360 3700, Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays, 10am to 4pm with a voicemail at other times, or email mycommunity@ageuklambeth.org
On Tuesdays and Thursday it is recommended that you call your GP surgery and ask to speak to the Link Worker who are available to signpost people to services and support - or use one of the other support services below.

Centre 70 – provides an advice service (food vouchers, housing, welfare benefits, debt and legal) as well as counselling and well-being activities.
email: enquiries@centre70.org.uk or counselling@centre70.org.uk, phone: 020 8670 0070 - more info here:
 https://centre70.org.uk/

Citizens Advice Centre - if you are in financial crisis and live in England or Wales, please call 0808 208 2138 for free (open Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm) to talk confidentially to a trained adviser. They can help address your crises and provide support to maximise your income, help you navigate the benefits system, and identify any additional grants you could be entitled to. If needed, they’ll issue you with a food voucher so you can get an emergency food parcel from your local food bank. 
Information on our local CAC can be found here:
 www.caml.org.uk/

You cannot visit any of these in person at the moment.

REGULAR SUPPORT if money is short
The Norwood and Brixton Foodbank is a resource for more regular food support if money is short. You will need a food voucher and the easiest way to be assessed and receive food vouchers is to contact one of these:

Your doctor – find their details here
Your children’s school – find their details here
Also Centre 70 and Citizens Advice Centre - find details of both above.

Once you have a food voucher you will be given details on how to contact the Foodbank who will arrange to deliver food direct to your home
You cannot visit the Foodbank in person at the moment.

West Norwood Community Shop
Vale Street (behind the Lambeth Reuse and Recycling Centre, London SE27 9PA
twitter.com/CommunityShops 
www.companyshopgroup.co.uk/
The shop is currently open Monday to Friday 9am-4pm, excluding weekends and bank holidays.
Tel: 020 8761 9660
If you have not shopped there before, it’s basically a normal supermarket but one where you can buy high quality food and household brands at super low prices.

Membership is free and open to those who live locally and are in receipt of a means tested benefit (e.g. JSA, ESA, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support).
You can join when you visit the shop, either call in during opening times or ring if you have any questions: 020 8761 9660.

NEIGHBOURHOOD INFORMATION
Chain Supermarkets

Check current opening hours here: www.norwoodforum.org/shop-local

Shop Local
Lists here www.norwoodforum.org/shop-local of local shops providing collections and home deliveries.

Cargo Bike - service provided by local resident Hugo Harrision
Hugo will collect shopping and deliver it to you at home. Whether its a single prescription or your weekly shop from the Coop.
Email Hugo on: info@hugoseco-delivery.com or phone/text 07979671958 
Rates are subject to distances and items weight/dimensions. 
Currently £3.99 for pick up from one store and £6.50 from multiple stores - both for a delivery within a two mile radius. 


SUPPORT
If you would welcome a meal delivery and/or if you receive a food parcel - and would like help turning it into meals

Open Door Kitchen
Open Door will deliver a hot meal to your doorstep on Tuesday lunchtimes to anyone in the Gipsy Hill area who are struggling to put a hot meal on the table. They can also help in a food emergency. Call 07459 568 151 or email 
opendoor@gipsyhill.org.uk to find out if you can benefit from this free community service.

Vital Meals
Local caterer Ayesha who runs The Plattery is offering completely free help in the following ways:

1- We cook and deliver free nutritious meals to anyone in need. Initially feeding just the elderly and those considered ‘high-risk’, Vital Meals has expanded to feed: people at risk/vulnerable, children, families, elderly, those on Universal Credit, single parent families & the homeless (plus anyone else in need).
2- We run cookery classes for children to arm them with confidence in a kitchen & the knowledge to cook healthy, nutritional meals for themselves & their families. We work with the Free School Meal Vouchers in mind and ensure that our weekly ingredient lists are never more than £15 (the max value of the voucher) so the children can learn to feed themselves without any additional costs to them or their families. We have a very heavy focus on health and nutrition as some of the boroughs we work within have the highest rate of child obesity in the country.
3 - We run a service called Parcel to Plate, where we collect ingredients from your home and cook these ingredients into meals ready to eat or freeze - despite Gov food parcels having come to an end, we continue to run this service as it is a crucial for those lacking the ability or equipment to cook in the kitchen.

All these services are free (more info here). Complete the online form or email Ayesha on hello@vitalmeals.org.


HELP
Find out more about Vital Meals - and how to donate here.

If you receive a food parcel and don't need it, or have food surplus and want to donate it
Please email norwoodfoodbank@btinternet.com and a delivery driver from the Lambeth Foodbank Network will come by to collect it.