Social Canteen

The Pitch

Problem statement

At Bournemouth Foodbank, we have an ongoing project called 'The Social Canteen.' Every Friday evening, we open our doors and provide a hot and healthy meal to local families. The project provides our families with a safe and warm space, and the opportunity to meet others working towards our fight against social isolation and loneliness. Currently we host around 70 people every Friday; this includes around 17 children. Our biggest customer base are single adults; creating new social networks and boosting mental health. Attendance grows week after week, and to meet demand we want funding to ensure we can continue this vital lifeline in our community as a result of the cost of living crisis.

Solution

The overall goal is to welcome new and existing customers into our cafe by providing a hot, healthy meal and drink to anyone in crisis within a warm and comfortable space. But it is about more than food; we can provide volunteering opportunities and therefore meaningful occupation within the cafe for people with lived experience who want to connect in a different way whilst also providing key skills and workplace training. We create friendships that go outside our foodbank and last long term. We have a golden hour to offer advice and signpost to a variety of multi agencies who can support medium to long term. If we can feed those in food poverty, the legacy goes well beyond our doors.

Why are we best placed to deliver?

In the financial year that ended March 2024, the Foodbank alone was accessed 13,040 times; 3384 of those were children. We distribute 1.7 tones of food through referrals from 221 agencies EVERY WEEK at the moment. We are a known and respected hub of support for anyone in our area, free from judgement. We are already seeing those in food poverty; so the additional funding would allow us to continue feeding those who perhaps are in temporary accommodation or in fuel poverty. We employ 200 volunteers which is perhaps our proudest achievement who keep coming back for a purpose and connection. We have a proven track record for this service, and are based in an area of significant deprivation.

Focus Areas

Delivery plan

Budget breakdown

Beneficiaries

100 people

Who will benefit

Expected impact

We expect to see existing and new faces at social canteen by hosting on an alternative evening. We monitor and record all of our attendances each week in terms of their demographics and circumstances. For example, how many children, how many single adults etc. Using the Friday pilot, we expect to see 40-45 new single adults who will return each week so we can build relations. We expect to see 17-20 children; who will benefit from a hot meal and the idea of sitting at a table for a family dinner which is impossible in most temporary accommodation schemes. Roughly 75% of our visitors have mental health issues, 30% are older or elderly, and 25% will have visible or hidden disabilities.

Track record

Last summer, we opened a holiday hunger club for ‘child in hunger’ through the summer holiday months, and along with our local schools, Bournemouth Foodbank made over 3000 meals/food parcels for children in our community. Over the Christmas period each year, we deliver over 700 Christmas Hampers and food parcels to the those in need within our community; this included extras that some children don't get, something as simple as a small toy at Christmas and a full turkey Christmas dinner. Last year we provided 115,000 meals to our community; including 30,000 child meals. We partner with nearly 200 agencies such as Citizens' Advice, local schools, housing associations and partner charities who issue vouchers on our behalf. We are well known and recognised in what we do as a charity. We are functioning as a professional warehouse and distribution centre, able to meet an increase in demand week on week with only a small paid staff team, but a strong workforce of 200 volunteers.

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