Hectic November Saturdays and quiet Wednesdays as our busiest time of year approaches.
Last month was again a story of two halves: very busy Saturdays followed by much quieter Wednesdays. In total in November we provided food for 404 people – equivalent to 3,636 meals.
It means that so far in 2025, with our traditionally busiest month to come in December, we have provided 34,400 meals for 3,825 very grateful clients/family members.
While at the four Wednesday sessions we provided food for an average of 22 people, on the five Saturdays we provided for around 62 people per session.
Each of the nine sessions was eventful in its own way. On Saturday 22nd David Mendonca, president of Coulsdon Manor Rotary Club, and treasurer John Power called in to present a cheque for £2,000 for us to share with the Food Stop at Old Lodge Lane Baptist Church. They were pleased to see the Food Hub in action and to hear about how we operate closely with the Food Stop.
After we sent the club our thank you certificate, former club president and Food Hub volunteer John Broom wrote back to thank us, adding: “All the political parties say they want to end homelessness.
“But I have not heard any politician say they will end the need for food banks. I am sorry to say I think Purley Food Hub will be here for many years to come and I hope Coulsdon Manor Rotary Club will be here to continue to support you.”
On Wednesday 26th seven staff from David Lloyd Club Purley, led by General Manager Rachel Nott and Assistant GM Oli Anthony, delivered food parcels to clients for the first time as part of a corporate volunteer drive. Pictured with our volunteers Clare, Louise and Fiona, they also brought in bagfuls of items donated by club members in their Food Hub collection basket.
At the sorting session on Monday 24th Euan Lee, Warehouse Manager at Caterham & District Foodbank delivered boxloads of surplus stock (pictured).
They included breakfast cereals, pasta sauce, tinned meat meals, jam and honey, tinned rice pudding and tinned tomatoes…all on our November most needed list!
Working closely with similar organisations such as the local Food Stops and food banks is a key part of how the Food Hub operates.
So we are very grateful for the support we receive from organisations like the Society of St Vincent de Paul (SVP). They recently offered to provide help to clients needing extra support, and Julia Lee, head of our Client Support team, asked if they could assist a client and his adult son who were living in dire conditions.
Lijuba Lo Bello, President of SVP Purley, based at St John the Baptist Catholic Church, told her: “Our team has made contact with him and assessed what are his more urgent needs.
“We have helped by replacing his mattress and bedding, as they were in terrible conditions. We are also looking at either repairing or replacing the washing machine, as it has been broken for a long time and the gentleman washes his clothes by hand. I will keep you posted.”