How to get help from the Southwark Foodbank during the Coronavirus outbreak
Our delivery process
The Southwark Foodbank is making contact-free deliveries to people’s homes instead of hosting face-to-face sessions.
This support is for people who are unable to afford to buy food.
If you can afford to buy food but cannot leave your home, we recommend you contact the Southwark Council Community Hub on 020 7525 5000 or contact your local Mutual Aid Group for support.
We work on a voucher referral system and you need a foodbank voucher to use the foodbank. We take the vouchers electronically directly from referrers. We then process the vouchers and contact clients directly by phone to arrange delivery. The process takes at least 48 hours from us receiving a voucher to making contact with the clients. This is due to the high volume of vouchers we are processing daily. We need to be able to contact people and we need to have an address to deliver to so you must have access to a phone and an address for us to be able to support you.
If you need foodbank support, please follow the following guidance:
1. Make contact with a referral agency to get your voucher filled in (see “How to Get a Voucher” below for details)
2. The referrer will then send the voucher directly to us.
3. We will make contact with you on the phone number you provide. Please keep your phone near you and charged
4. Remain at home on the day of your delivery. We cannot give a specific time and delivery will happen any time between 10am and 6pm.
5. The delivery driver will call you 5 minutes before they reach your home to let you know they are close. Please come out to the main door of your home/building as delivery drivers do not enter buildings.
6. You will need a voucher every time you need support from us, we do not just deliver on a regular basis without a new voucher. Please contact your referrer for another voucher should you need it.
How to get a voucher
All people needing support from the foodbank need to have a voucher to use the foodbank. Vouchers can be obtained through voucher referral agencies and if you do not have contact with one already, please call the Southwark Council Community Hub Emergency helpline on 020 7525 5000 and select Option 3 for food support.
If you or someone you know needs support in Spanish, please call the Latin American Disable People’s Project, on 0207 7938 399, who are supporting us by making referrals to Spanish speaking families.
Si vives en Southwark y necesitas el apoyo del banco de alimentos de Southwark, por favor llama: Al Proyecto de Personas con Discapacidades Latíno Americanas, su número es 0207 7938 399 O Al Centro Comunitario de Southwark, su número es 0207 525 5000
If you are in receipt of Universal Credit, please make a note in your journal to your work coach who can make a referral for you. You can also receive a voucher from the Citizens Advice Bureau on this number 0808 208 2138
How to refer someone to the Southwark Foodbank
If you are a charity, community organisation, hospital, GP surgery etc and need to refer someone from your service, please email us on [email protected] with details and we will get back to you with details about how to refer someone to us.
If you are an individual and know someone who needs foodbank support, then please direct them to either the Southwark Council Community Hub or Citizens Advice. We do not take self referrals and require an agency to submit a voucher to us.