Feed Our Community

‘Coming together is the beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.’ -Henry Ford

In March 2020, after the announcement of the first lockdown, Boscombe Community Fridge and Grounded Community joined forces.

Feed Our Community was born, the charity’s food distribution project, which is based at 118 Haviland Road, Boscombe. We have an incredible team of dedicated volunteers that pick up surplus food from local supermarkets, cafes, allotments and other businesses and give out to those in the local community who really need it. In addition, we also provide fresh, seasonal, chemical-free fruit and vegetables from our community gardens and home growing spaces.

Our aim is to cut down on food waste and use the surplus to provide help to those in the community who need it most. We also share cost saving recipes to help individuals and families to cook nutritious, healthy meals.

Christmas was a busy time for our volunteers, who were out 2-3 times per day, 7 days a week, collecting surplus food in our Feed Our Community van.

Other F.O.C. members worked hard in ‘the hub’ - sorting, packing and distributing food boxes to those who needed support.

Our team’s love and dedication didn’t stop there!

Other members arranged for us to receive children’s toys through Lidl’s Toy Donation scheme & from the cosmetics company Lush, which we wrapped up and gave away to local families. We received so many that we were able to give the remaining ones to the BCHA women’s refuge.

On top of that, we really wanted to support other partner organisations throughout the festive times. This year we were able to support Citygate church, Bournemouth, as they did their Christmas hamper appeal, by donating some needed items.

Back at the hub, we had many private donations of food come in from members of the public, of which we’re truly grateful for.

Also, we received £1000 from the Wallace Bell Charitable Trust, for us to spend in Tesco, which was amazing!

On Christmas Eve, when it was cold and dark, our tireless volunteers went out and collected large amounts of surplus food, which we distributed around BCP to other charities and projects, as well as stocking up our own hub; mainly with vegetables and turkeys!

Looking back at 2022, the real impact of our dedicated team’s work becomes even more apparent. From April to December 2022 over 3000 parcels were handed out to people in need. During this time, Feed our Community saved – 38.5tonnes of food from being wasted, that’s the weight of 4 double decker buses, which would have produced 96.25 tonnes of CO2, that’s the equivalent of driving a diesel car 14 times around the world!

How can we top that in 2023?!

Grounded Community’s ambitious team has already started the year with another Social Canteen, which will be a regular feature at 118 Haviland Road from February until March.

With the cost of living continuing to go up, demand for support is rising.

Our aim is to support more people through 2023 by getting more people to join us, growing food locally, identifying more sources of surplus, as well as working efficiently in partnership with other organisations across BCP and further afield to make our communities more resilient.

If that sounds like a good new year’s resolution to you, we are always looking for flexible and reliable volunteers who are willing to give their time to help us achieve our aspirations.

We are currently in need of drivers who can help us collect more surplus food. We need you to be reliable and relatively fit, so you can lift boxes to and from the van & hub. If you prefer to stay in one place, we are also looking for someone who loves to keep things clean, tidy and organised, to keep our main hub room, where we store food, in tip top condition.

If you’d like to volunteer for either role then please send us an email.

If you’d like to donate items of food, then we’d be very happy to receive you!

You can come to the hub entrance at 118 Haviland Rd, Boscombe, BH7 6HW, Monday-Friday 10am-11.30am.

Alternatively if you’re able to donate by other means, for example if you’re a local business that wants to support us, then please email us detailing what/how you’d like offer.

For volunteering or donating, contact: feedourcommunity@groundedcommunity.co.uk