Love Marylebone
The Pitch
Problem statement
St. Mary's is a faith-based community that welcomes people from all cultures, sexualities, religions and socio-economic backgrounds,. As part of its regular worship St. Mary' has a key objective to serve people and ensure that they are given respect and dignity. The central location of St Mary's allows it to be a hub for our Social Supermarket, which addresses food poverty, and our homeless meal, which serves people without homes or those who are vulnerably housed. Neighbouring areas around St Mary's where our clients live have high levels of poverty with Child Poverty rates at 29.1%, Pensioner Poverty at 40.6%, Working age poverty at 18.4%. cuf.org.uk/parish/230081
Solution
St Mary's aims to help people from all backgrounds. The project within St Mary's called Love Marylebone it provides for community needs whilst retaining people's dignity. St Mary's has a Social Supermarket every Wednesday providing basic foods, canned goods, bread, occasional fresh products, sanitary and cleaning products. Local people can come and shop between 9.30 and 10.30 and get their essential weekly provisions (optional 3 pound donation). The service is used by a large number of people, many are care givers, single parents, pensioners or have health needs. We also provide a monthly 3 course meal for people without homes or who are vulnerably housed.
Why are we best placed to deliver?
St. Mary's is a faith-based community that welcomes people from all cultures, sexualities, religions and socio-economic backgrounds. At the heart of St. Mary' there is a key objective to serve people with respect and dignity. The central location of St Mary's allows it to be a hub for youth groups, children's activities and holiday clubs. They also host celebratory events like the Jubilee, Coronation, and tree lighting and are known to local people. Through the parish school, local businesses and church congregation there is a large number of people able to access the provision if they are in need. We are happy to bring together volunteers to help local people.
Focus Areas
Delivery plan
Budget breakdown
| A shop costs between £20 and £25. We give out between 60 and 100 shops per month. Totalling £1500 pcm. | £4,520 |
| Administrative Staff member 2 hours per week £15 per hour, 12 weeks per year | £360 |
| Heating and lighting £10 for 3 hours x 12 weeks | £120 |
Beneficiaries
100 people
Who will benefit
Expected impact
The Social Supermarket provides basic provisions for people who are experiencing food poverty and do not have sufficient income to manage due to the cost of living crisis. This alleviates the burden being placed upon pensioners, care givers who are unable to work, people experiencing health difficulties, refugees, and single parent families. The environment is very sociable and provides community care and a space for mutual connection. Volunteers serve the guests with tea, coffee and cake and there is time for conversation and for friendships to form. Volunteers come from local businesses and institutions and people from all backgrounds congregate together. The meal for people without homes provides a space for people to gather each month for a 3 course meal. The food is prepared and served by a team of staff and volunteers. Guests and volunteers eat together at tables and there is time to socialise and share about life events. We partner with local shelters and charities.
Track record
The Social Supermarket has been running for over two years. It has successfully delivered 1000s of weekly shops to local people. It has also been connecting people within the local area and providing a social space for people who have experienced isolation and loneliness. Many of our guests tell us they rarely leave the house and are very grateful for the chance to gather and talk to people from different age groups and with different experiences. They are also grateful for the produce and provisions provided especially cleaning products and basic food such as rice, pasta and tuna. The meals for people without homes have been running for over twenty at St Mary's and there is a long term connection with the Salvation Army, The Marylebone Project and other local charities. We generally feed between 80-100 people at each even and they are grateful for the food, warmth and tea! We are hoping to expand our invitation to both events to more people via local job centres, GPs and Pharmacies.