We accept referrals from agencies or self-referrals. We have an application form which must be completed by or on behalf of all applicants. We cannot accept applications other than through the referral form as it generates our clients lists.
The form can be found here.
We do not require referral from an agency.
We will accept any household in need of help to buy food which is in receipt of a means-tested state benefit or has a very low income equivalent to what they would receive if they were entitled to state benefits.
Attendance allowance, DLA, PIP, State Pension and Child Benefit do not qualify. ESA or JSA must be income based not contributions based.
Giving us as much information as possible on the referral form will speed up the process.
We reserve the right to make decisions as to entitlement which comply with our registered charitable aims.
Yes.
Once we have received your application or referral we will require written proof of benefits or income in the form of documentary evidence dated within the last month for every adult in the household.
This can be a benefit letter, screen shot of an online journal (for UC) or entry in your bank account of benefit payment (name and date must be clearly visible). We require this proof before we will confirm the application, even if you have been referred through an agency.
We may in certain circumstances require proof of address.
We reserve the right to ask for proof and suspend an application pending receipt, at any time.
The sooner the relevant proof is received, the sooner the application can be approved.
We will not shortcut this process for any applicant whether a self-referral or a referring agency.
Once your application has been confirmed you will receive a shopping list from which you can select a certain number of items each week from our dry goods store. These will be tinned, dried and long life items You will also be invited to order fresh meat, fish, cheese, fruit and vegetables, subject to availability of funds. We also aim to distribute donations of near to sell by fresh foodstuffs & bakery from local supermarkets subject to availability.
You will be given a time slot to collect your order either at Hope Church or at Dunton Green Pavilion (Tuesday only). Please let us know which is more convenient for you and we will attempt to accommodate you. Slots at Dunton Green Pavilion are limited and priority will be given to those living in Dunton Green.
We aim to deliver to those who are disabled or sick and unable to get to our premises or arrange for someone to collect their order. We may also be able to deliver to thosse who cannot arrange transport and live further away from our collection sites, but this will be sunject to availabilty or drivers and cannot be guarenteed.
Please tell us if anyone in your household has a food allergy. We will do our best to make sure you aren't sent anything that could cause a problem but we cannot be responsible for ensuring that all food delivered is free from common allergens. We would remind you to check labels and/or websites for food ingredients if you are unsure whether something is safe for you. You may need to check the website for the ingredients of donated bakery items from supermarkets as they may not always be labelled. If there is a specific product you do not wish to receive please put this in the notes section on your weekly order.
You can apply to become one of our volunteers by filling out this form.
We have various volunteering opportunities available including administration, shopping for our customers, packing delivery bags, delivery to our customers, collection of products from supermarkets, fundraising/publicity, a 'shift in the shop' and one-to-one cookery tuition for a customer at our premises.
We have a list of 60 items that we offer our families each week and we welcome donations of these items in particular. The list of these items can be found on our Facebook page in the 'Posts'. We also accept all donations that you choose to kindly donate. We cannot accept any alcohol or products containing alcohol and we cannot accept food cooked in the home. Please make sure donated items are within their use by/sell by date.
We welcome donations of money as this enables us to fund fresh food for our families. You can donate money via JustGiving & PayPal, you will find the link to these on our website. Alternatively you can contact us directly and we will give your our Bank Details for a one off donation or for a monthly Direct Debit. We encourage you to Gift Aid all your donations, please ask us to send you our form.