News Archive 2017

December is busiest ever month for Food Hub

Sat 30/12/17
During December we have provided 4,000 meals to nearly 450 people going through tough times – including 2,000 meals in the 3 extremely busy sessions immediately before Christmas.

It is our most ever meals provided in a single month and an increase of over 30 per cent on December 2016. In addition 135 turkey-and-trimmings hampers were delivered to needy families in the borough through our Christmas Lunch On Jesus scheme, and 200 children each received 2 toys through Toys For Joy.

Waitrose’s excellent support for the Food Hub!

Mon 11/12/17
Customers, staff and management at Waitrose’s Sanderstead and Coulsdon stores have truly excelled themselves for the benefit of the clients of Purley Food Hub.

On Saturday 18 November at Coulsdon our volunteers collected 9 trolleyloads of food and toiletries etc, plus £137.94 in cash. Then last Saturday (9 December) at Sanderstead we collected 15 trolleyloads and an amazing £378.25. And in between, the Community Matters box at Sanderstead raised £360 for our Christmas Lunch On Jesus scheme to provide Christmas hampers for needy families in Croydon. Thank you everyone – we are so very grateful.

We pass landmark of 100,000 meals in five years for people in crisis

Sat 09/12/17
Today at the Food Hub we provided our 100,000th meal since we opened five years ago. Since January 2013 1,969 clients have attended a total of 5,042 times and received food for 11,139 people.

Huge thanks to the many churches, schools, businesses, organisations, families and individuals who kindly donate food – and our volunteers who sort and date-stamp it, refill our shelves and serve our clients each Wednesday and Saturday.

Donate one item a day through our Reverse Advent Calendar

Thu 30/11/17
Today we launch our Reverse Advent Calendar, inviting friends and supporters to put one item a day in a box or a ‘bag for life’ between 1 and 24 December and then bring them to the Food Hub from Tuesday 2 January between 9am-2pm Monday-Saturday.

Bishop of Croydon is guest speaker at AGM

Sat 21/10/17
More than 50 volunteers, friends and supporters of Purley Food Hub attended our Annual General Meeting at Purley United Reformed Church on Tuesday 17 October. Guest speaker was the Bishop of Croydon, the Rt Rev Jonathan Clark, and there were brief presentations from Nigel Davidson of the CAP (Christians Against Poverty) Croydon South Debt Centre, Nigel Priory of Langley House Trust and Kat Hymas of Bromley & Croydon Women’s Aid.

Another eight school donations take total to 21

Fri 20/10/17
A further eight school Harvest food donations have kindly been delivered to us yesterday and today:

  • St David’s School, Purley
  • Regina Coeli Catholic Primary School, South Croydon
  • Margaret Roper Catholic Primary School, Purley
  • Beaumont Primary School, Purley
  • St Nicholas School, Purley
  • St Giles School, South Croydon
  • Oasis Academy Byron, Coulsdon
  • Oakwood School, Purley

It takes to 21 the number of school donations we have received during this first half of the autumn term – more than ever before. Thank you everyone so very much!

And thank you too to our dedicated teams of sorters and stackers who ensure that our shelves are kept filled ready for each Wednesday and Saturday session.

Grateful thanks to six more schools

Wed 18/10/17
We have gratefully received Harvest food from six more schools in the past few days:

  • Harris Primary Academy Kenley
  • Gilbert Scott Primary School, South Croydon
  • Kenley Primary School
  • New Valley Primary School, Purley
  • Old Palace School, Croydon – Hatton & Anselm Houses
  • Thomas More Catholic School, Purley

Again, many thanks to the students, parents and staff – your donations are making such a difference to the increasing numbers of struggling people and families coming to us for food.

‘Magnificent Seven’ schools donate their Harvest food

Thu 12/10/17
Huge thanks to the ‘Magnificent Seven’ schools who have given us food from their 2017 Harvest collections during the past three weeks:

  1. Royal Russell Junior School, Croydon
  2. Wilson’s School, Wallington
  3. Laleham Lea School, Purley
  4. Gresham Primary School, Sanderstead
  5. The Hayes Primary School, Kenley
  6. Keston Primary School, Old Coulsdon
  7. Cumnor House School School for Girls, Purley

We are so grateful to all the pupils, their families and the staff for your very generous support.

A warm welcome to the Robin Cubs…and the Lion Cubs to come!

Tue 10/10/17

We were delighted to welcome the Robin Cubs from Purley Baptist Church to the Food Hub on Friday evening 6 October. They brought several carrier bags of food donations with them and during their visit helped us sort not only their own tins, jars and packets but also a big Harvest collection received from Gresham Primary School just that afternoon.

Next day one of the Robins, Jessica (pictured), went to the supermarket with her mum Kirsten and, still ‘buzzing’ from her visit the previous evening, promptly took her own trolley, selected two of each of the items on our October food list…and paid for them herself at the checkout from her pocket money. Thank you Jessica and ALL the Robins!

Then a few days later we learned that James (pictured), one of the Lion Cubs also based at Purley Baptist Church who goes to Woodcote Primary School, had chosen the Food Hub as his charity to donate some money to.

His mum Claire said: “We looked at your list of items and went to Tesco. James chose all the products himself and wanted to add in cookies as a special treat for someone. It’s not much but as parents we are proud of him for making the choice and hope it can be a little help to another family.”

Thank you James – and we look forward to welcoming you and the Lion Cubs to the Food Hub in December.

Thank you for 14 trolleyloads of food collected at Waitrose Sanderstead

Mon 18/09/17
Our collection at Waitrose Sanderstead on Saturday 16 September was another big success, with 14 trolleyloads of food and toiletries collected plus £206.49 in cash.

Thank you to all the customers who donated a grand total of 2,001 items, including: 163 chocolate treats, 144 jars of pasta sauce, 136 tins/cartons of tomatoes, 133 toilet rolls, 118 tins of fruit…and 4 toothbrushes and 2 tin openers.

Thank you too to the Waitrose staff and manager for all your support. We have two more collections coming up: on Saturday 18 November at Waitrose Coulsdon and Saturday 9 December at Waitrose Sanderstead again, both 9am-6pm.

We pass 10,000 people fed and 90,000 meals provided

Mon 07/08/17
Sixteen clients attended Saturday’s session at Purley Food Hub and we provided food for them and 26 family members…and it meant that we passed 10,000 people fed and 90,000 meals provided since we opened in 2013.

Thank you to all of the churches, schools, businesses, organisations, families and individuals who have donated food and money to us over the past four and a half years – and also of course to our wonderful army of volunteers.

Many thanks to the young people from the National Citizen Service

Thu 03/08/17
We are hugely grateful to 12 young people from the National Citizen Service (NCS) for their support this week. After a fact-finding visit to the Food Hub a week ago, they raised £212 from a sponsored walk yesterday (Wednesday) – and this afternoon they collected 4 trolleyloads of food and other items plus £69.69 in cash from generous shoppers at Tesco Purley.

Tomorrow they are giving out our food lists and leaflets to increase public awareness and support. We will be exploring with them in the autumn how they might be able to continue supporting the Food Hub once they are back at their schools and colleges. In the meantime, thank you all very much – it was great to have you with us.

Food ‘flies in’ at Heathrow work collection

Wed 02/08/17
United Airlines employees at London Heathrow Airport – both landside and airside – kindly donated five large bagfuls of food and toiletries, etc, in a work collection organised by one of our new volunteers, Janine Staff.

Please get in touch if you are willing to arrange a collection at your workplace or school of college or among your neighbours and we will send you our latest food list, news update and other information to get you started…

9 trolleyloads and £135 donated at Waitrose Coulsdon

Wed 19/07/17
Customers at Waitrose Coulsdon kindly donated 9 trolleyloads of food, toiletries and other items plus £135.45 in our latest collection at the store on Saturday (15 July). In all, 1,842 items were donated during the day, among then 219 tins/cartons of tomatoes, 216 tins of baked beans and spaghetti, 164 toothpaste, 158 tinned fruit, 138 pasta sauce, 70 washing up liquid, 64 tinned meat – and 4 tin openers.

The items were delivered to the Food Hub on Saturday, sorted on Monday and put on the shelves on Tuesday…ready to give to the clients coming on Wednesday. Our next collection – by young people from the National Citizen Service – is at Tesco Purley on Thursday 3 August (12noon – 4pm).

New food collection point at Nationwide Building Society

Mon 10/07/17
Our big thanks to manager Tracey Holton and her team – Kiran, David and Kim – for setting up a Food Hub collection point at Nationwide Building Society’s branch at 918 Brighton Road, Purley. Customers and members of the public have been bringing in their food donations, including the gentleman pictured here presenting a shopping bag of items to Kiran.

Excellent food collection at Waitrose Sanderstead on Saturday

Wed 19/06/17
We had an excellent collection at Waitrose Sanderstead on Saturday (17 June): 18 full trolley-loads of food and toiletries, etc, plus £248.95 in cash – one of our best-ever! In total, generous shoppers donated 2,549 items – including 169 tins of fruit, 126 packs of pasta/rice, 113 jars of jam, 108 cartons of milk…and 740 toilet rolls. These are all items we were short of. Thank you everyone.

Our next collection is at Waitrose Coulsdon on Saturday 15 July (9am-6pm).

‘Thank God for the Purley Hub’ say children from Oakwood School

Tue 06/06/17
We were delighted to welcome Year 6 children and staff from Oakwood School, Purley, to the Food Hub yesterday. They helped our volunteers with sorting food, stacking shelves and collecting food donations from Sainsbury’s Local, as well as learning more about the Food Hub’s work.

At the end of their visit, they said: “We have learnt so much. We have learnt that not all people are as fortunate as ourselves. Thank God there is the Purley Hub to provide families in need with food. We will surely spread the news about this fantastic charity.”

Waitrose Coulsdon shoppers give 8 trolleyloads of food plus £168

Wed 26/04/17
Customers at Waitrose Coulsdon donated 8 trolleyloads of food and other items and £168 in cash in our latest collection at the store on Saturday 22 April. Many thanks to everyone who contributed, and also the store’s staff and manager. Our next collection is at Waitrose Sanderstead on Saturday 17 June (9am-6pm).

New collection point for Food Hub donations

Mon 10/04/17
South West London Law Centre’s office in Croydon has become a collection point for food donations to Purley Food Hub. You can now take items from our monthly food list to the SWLLC office at Davis House in Robert Street, Croydon CR0 1QQ. Thank you, SWLLC!

11 trolleyloads of food and £273 donated at Waitrose Sanderstead

Mon 20/03/17
Shoppers at Waitrose Sanderstead on Saturday 18 March gave the equivalent of 11 trolleyloads of food and toiletries, etc, plus an amazing £273 in cash – the most money we have had donated at any supermarket collection to date.

An enormous thank-you to the store’s customers, staff and manager for your support. We are at Waitrose Coulsdon next on Saturday 22nd April, 9am-6pm.

‘Super Six’ swimmers raise £1,000 at a stroke

Wed 08/03/17
Many congratulations and huge thanks to our ‘Super Six’ swimmers – left to right: Winifred, Jude, Howard, Terry, James and Rachael – who represented the Food Hub in the Purley Swimathon on Thursday evening 2 March. In total they completed 123 lengths of Purley Pool and raised around £1,000 in sponsorship.

Waitrose Coulsdon shoppers donate 9½ trolleyloads of food and £85

Tue 28/02/17
Big thanks to the customers, staff and manager of Waitrose Coulsdon for their support of our collection there on Saturday 25 February: in total we collected 9½ trolleyloads of food and toiletries, etc, plus £85 in cash – thank you so much everyone.

Our next collections are at Waitrose’s Sanderstead store on Saturday 18 March and then at Coulsdon again on Saturday 22 April – both 9am-6pm.

Year 6 children visit from St John’s C of E Primary School, Shirley

Mon 27/02/17
A group of 11 children from Year 6 at St John’s C of E Primary School, Shirley, visited the Food Hub today. Bringing carrier bags of food donations, they helped our team of volunteers to collect food from Get Fired!, Café Blue and Sainsbury’s Local, sort the food collected at Waitrose Coulsdon on Saturday and then refill our shelves after a busy session on Saturday when 20 clients attended and we provided food for 44 people – a total of nearly 400 meals.

Thank you again Year 6 – we look forward to seeing the rest of the pupils before the end of the school year.

Happy 4th Birthday, Purley Food Hub!

Sun 15/01/17
Today (Sunday) the Food Hub is 4 years old – so a very Happy 4th Birthday, Purley Food Hub! Since we opened to clients on 15th January 2013, we have provided 75,000 meals to more than 8,000 men, women and children going through tough times.

At the same time we have received many thousands of donated food items and toiletries, etc – over 50,000 in 2016 alone. So another huge THANK YOU to all of our volunteers and supporters: those who serve the clients each Wednesday and Saturday, sort the food donations and refill the shelves, collect at local supermarkets, donate food and support the Food Hub through our churches, schools and the local community.