Huge thanks to everyone who contributed Christmas food, household essentials, money and gifts. 

Not only was December our busiest month to date in terms of supplying food parcels to clients, it was also the biggest month for donations from supporters.

Our big-hearted donors included 42 community groups and businesses, 24 churches, and nine schools and nurseries.

We also recorded well over 100 separate donations brought in by supporters during our Wednesday and Saturday food delivery mornings and Monday sorting sessions at Purley URC. On top of that we received numerous donations between £10 and £100 from individuals, many of them anonymous.

Thanks to the number of food donations we were again able to pass on generous amounts to our partner organisations, chiefly the Food Stops at Old Lodge Lane Baptist Church, Purley, and St Francis Church, Monks Hill.

Like the Food Hub, the Old Lodge Lane Food Stop also saw record numbers in December. Pastor Nick Graves said: “Over Christmas 1,360 people were fed, equating to 4,080 meals.

“Compared to supermarket prices, the savings to vulnerable families amounted to over £9,000, and by using food that would otherwise have gone to landfill we saved almost 1,000 tonnes of CO2.”

Louise Willmer, our Stock Controller and Management Committee Chair, said: “An enormous vote of thanks to all of our kind, generous supporters who provided a MOUNTAIN of donations in December. You have helped HUGELY in meeting the greatly increased need over the Christmas period.”

Pictured below are just a few of our recent donors. THANK YOU ONE AND ALL!

Arthur
Arthur, seven, brought in a box of his home-made spiced biscuits as a personal thank-you to our volunteers.
19th Purley
19th Purley Scout Group delivered a Santa’s sackful of 85 Christmas selection boxes - (from left) Fraser (Scout), Liz (Group Scout Leader), Alice (Beaver) and Bella and Lottie (Cubs).
Cantilena donation
Cantilena Singers ladies’ choir collected donations at their Christmas concert at St Mary’s, Sanderstead - delivered by Chris (right) with our volunteers Jemi and Ilaka.
Striders Elsa
A carboot-ful of donations from the Striders of Croydon running club was brought to us by Elsa.
Striders group
One of the Striders, Kara, works at Argos Croydon Church Street and shopped for £500 of items through the company’s charity funding scheme. These were delivered by management member Darren (left) and colleague Kel.
Eijah
Elijah, three, and Jonah, seven, helped deliver donations from the yellow bin hosted by mum Amy in Bankside, South Croydon.
7th/12th Croydon Scouts brought in their families’ donations and had a quick tour of the Food Hub.
Lord Roberts donation
A full basket of donations from the Lord Roberts on the Green restaurant and coffee shop in Upper Woodcote Village, Purley.
Harry
Harry and Lily, aged four and eight, brought their family’s donations with mum Steph.
Olivia and Jamie, six and five, helped deliver their family's donation.
6th Coulsdon
6th Coulsdon Guides went shopping in Aldi Coulsdon with a £10 budget to find a healthy balanced meal for a family using only packaged or tinned food. Assistant Leader Sally Cheesman said, “A kind person in Aldi asked us what we were doing and gave us £20 for items to add to the collection.”
Gill Hickson
Gill from East Coulsdon Residents' Association delivered donations dropped off in the yellow bin she hosts in Mead Way, Coulsdon.
Harris & Bailey team
For the second successive year, building materials supplier Harris & Bailey of Croydon donated £5,000 worth of food and other items instead of giving out Christmas gifts and hampers to their suppliers and clients.
Riddlesdown Road appeal
Supporter Liz Ismail of Riddlesdown Road, Purley, launched an online fundraising appeal via social media and raised £595 for the Food Hub.
Theatre Workshop Coulsdon donations
Donations galore from audiences at 'A Christmas Carol' staged by Theatre Workshop Coulsdon.
Lloret group
As well as donating food themselves, staff from building system designers Lloret of Coulsdon also gave hours of their time, collecting donations from Riddlesdown Collegiate, Purley.
Pictured are Lloret’s Darren, Grace and Max along with our volunteer John and four of the Riddlesdown students.