NEW Food Bank Collection on Lordship Lane

[BornAgainSELondoner]

Hello,

The Goose Green Mutual Aid Group and Oru Space have made arrangements to make it easier for East Dulwich residents to make donations to Pecan, Southwark's foodbank based in Peckham (https://www.pecan.org.uk/southwark-foodbank).

If you would like to make any donations, please drop off your items at Oru Space (nextdoor to Organic Village and opposite Franco Manca) between 12-3pm on Easter Sunday or Easter Monday. Regular donation slots will be set up thereafter and I will post here as soon as they are confirmed.

Any questions, please email the Goose Green Mutual Aid team on [email protected]

Pecan have requested the following items:

Milk (Long Life/UHT)

Pasta sauce

Meat Soup

Rice Pudding

Tinned Mixed Veg

Baked Beans

Tinned fish

Jam

Tinned Meat (Pork and Non-Pork)

Tinned tomatoes

Rice Pudding

Tinned Fruit

Fruit Juice (Long Life)

Toiletries (toothpaste/brushes, shower gel, deodorant, shaving foam, razors)

Thank you. x

[gumshoe]

Hi all - further guidelines for those donating can be found here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-EL7udyoEptWqiISs2vxvOfldJMlHC8GRvbHnBrtA_8

Please spread the world - and thank you for your support!

[monica]

Hi

Brilliant idea, I have shared the post on our FB page. I will be down with donations later.

Thank you

[BornAgainSELondoner]

Thanks Monica.

[BornAgainSELondoner]

A reminder that Oru Space is accepting donations for Pecan fod bank again today between 12-3.

Remember:

- only one person donating inside at a time;

- please observe social distancing measure if there is a queue (at least 2m between each person);

- please use available hand sanitiser before placing items in boxes;

- please put items in the relevant box to make sorting easier.

Thank you.

We'll let you know when we've set up the regular sessions next week.

[gumshoe]

Just an update on this - we managed to donate 30 boxes of food and toiletries to Pecan today following the donation sessions. Thank you so much to everyone who supported us either in person or online :)

[gumshoe]

Bumping this up as we will be doing another collection TODAY Monday 20th and at least every Monday until 11th May.

We will be collecting for Pecan, the foodbank in Peckham between 12 and 3pm. Please bring your donations on down!

Guidance for donors is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-EL7udyoEptWqiISs2vxvOfldJMlHC8GRvbHnBrtA_8

We?ve received word from Pecan that they are in urgent need of large quantities of the following as these are the items that are going out every day:

-UHT milk

-UHT juice

-baked beans

-tinned rice pudding

In addition to donations of food and toiletries, we?d also love any sturdy cardboard boxes that you might have lying around, so we have containers to transport donations easily. Please check that your name and address isn?t on the box before donating it, so we can keep your personal details safe!

we?re operating our medical supplies drop off at the same time, so if you have anything to to drop off - from wrist supports to antibiotics - helping us build our emergency kit for local residents in case they are unable to access urgent care.

Thank you! :)

[se22cat]

Just thought it worth mentioning that people require a voucher (unless this has suddenly changed)to be able to receive food from Pecan, unlike the centre on Dog Kennel Hill & elsewhere in the area, making them a far from ideal place for many ED residents in need to access. It also requires travel outside of the area in a time when this needs to be avoided.

Naturally, I applaud the work being done here, but imho it could and should be directed to more local efforts.

[gumshoe]

se22cat Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Just thought it worth mentioning that people

> require a voucher (unless this has suddenly

> changed)to be able to receive food from Pecan,

> unlike the centre on Dog Kennel Hill & elsewhere

> in the area, making them a far from ideal place

> for many ED residents in need to access. It also

> requires travel outside of the area in a time when

> this needs to be avoided.

>

> Naturally, I applaud the work being done here, but

> imho it could and should be directed to more local

> efforts.

Hi se22cat, thanks for your message which I?ve now informed the other administrators of the Goose Green Mutual Aid group of.

Specifically on your point of residents being able to access Pecan - they switched to a mostly home delivery model a while back (4 out of 5 days this is offered for those needing their services). They also support a wide section of the borough of Southwark, so supporting them is allowing us to both support our immediate communities and others living in Southwark. We do have a solidarity fund specifically for Goose Green ward residents (https://opencollective.com/goose-green-solidarity-fund) and we?ve paid out ?150 so far to residents in need.

We will look into the issue of vouchers - we are in regular contact with our ward councillors so can raise this with them as well.

Thanks!

Edit #1: removed a typo.

Edit #2: just wanted to add and clarify that we are super keen on establishing relationships and helping out where we can across the ward and borough - so please do get in touch, we would love to hear from you :)

[se22cat]

Hi, please don't take my message above as criticism, it's not. I have helped mentor people who have been in extreme financial difficulty and a couple of them mentioned to me last year that when they were initially referred to Pecan when they couldn't afford to eat and been refused an advance by the Job Center or been sanctioned either by them for something as petty as being late for a meeting at a third party provider that after a certain number of visits to Pecan they were required to have a token which they were only entitled to and had to be agreed on by their job coach, which IIRC were limited to a certain number of.

I think it's great that Pecan now offer home deliveries, but would hope that, especially during this pandemic that they would make their aid accessible to those in this area seeing as they are receiving donations from it.

The total lack of action by our councillor in Goose Green ward is very disappointing and something that I feel would have been addressed long ago if James Barber had been voted in again as he was always excellent in dealing with social issues.

I think the scheme you mentioned looks fantastic - again - something for which the council could easily self fund. Given the average salary for people in SE22 and the number of house rebuilds done before residents move in & the amount of expensive cars and ?5 loaves of bread sold, I would hope that the many well off around here will see it in their hearts to contribute towards it. I imagine it will be of great help to many in the coming weeks and months.

By your username, you probably already know that Raymond Chandler attended Dulwich College :)

Thank you for stepping up and making a difference.

[virgosuzie]

HI, I have some toiletries to donate, when is the next donation date?

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

Every Mondays currently.

virgosuzie Wrote:

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> HI, I have some toiletries to donate, when is the

> next donation date?

[gumshoe]

Yep, every Monday 12-3 until 11 May!

[alice]

The church on frien road has a a food bank deposit box. It?s there every day and emptied several times a day.

[gumshoe]

hello all! As promised, I raised the issue of the voucher referral program with our councillor's this week. They were very receptive to this feedback and confirmed that Southwark's food referral scheme has been adjusted in light of the pandemic (see: https://www.southwark.gov.uk/health-and-wellbeing/public-health/for-the-public/coronavirus/food-access?article) and have confirmed that anyone who is referred to them and in need of food will get it. As I mentioned above, we also have our own solidarity fund scheme which has paid out nearly ?300 now for residents in need.

We'll be collecting again for Pecan 12-3 on Monday :) and we would welcome contributions from the community either to the GG fund, to the foodbank, or if you can, both!

Take care all x

[aloevera]

gumshoe Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> hello all! As promised, I raised the issue of the

> voucher referral program with our councillor's

> this week. They were very receptive to this

> feedback and confirmed that Southwark's food

> referral scheme has been adjusted in light of the

> pandemic (see:

> https://www.southwark.gov.uk/health-and-wellbeing/

> public-health/for-the-public/coronavirus/food-acce

> ss?article) and have confirmed that anyone who is

> referred to them and in need of food will get it.

> As I mentioned above, we also have our own

> solidarity fund scheme which has paid out nearly

> ?300 now for residents in need.

>

> We'll be collecting again for Pecan 12-3 on Monday

> :) and we would welcome contributions from the

> community either to the GG fund, to the foodbank,

> or if you can, both!

>

> Take care all x

Congratulations for the amazing work you & the rest of mutual aid team volunteers are doing.

Sadly,many people that suddenly have a zero income due to the crisis, don't qualify for this help as they don't fall in the following category:

"be receiving one of these benefits:

-Universal Credit including the personal allowance element

-Income Support

-Jobseeker's Allowance (income based)

-Employment Support Allowance (income based)

-Guaranteed Pension Credit."

[gumshoe]

Hey aloevera and all,

If you are aware of anyone in need right now, please refer them to the solidarity fund - we can provide up to ?50 for people to spend on whatever they need if they are experiencing financial hardship right now due to COVID-19.

[Lolamaxx]

Hi, every Mon 12-3 at the Oru Centre? Thanks

[curlylocks]

Does that include the 11th May, despite being a bank holiday? And do you know whether you are likely to be continuing beyond the 11th? Thanks

[gumshoe]

curlylocks Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Does that include the 11th May, despite being a

> bank holiday? And do you know whether you are

> likely to be continuing beyond the 11th? Thanks

Hi Curlylocks! The 11th isn?t a bank holiday (the bank holiday is this week, Friday 8th). Post May 11, we will still be collecting for Pecan but are transitioning to a slightly different model and will update this post once we have confirmed all of the logistics. We are so happy and grateful for all of the support we?ve received so far and look forward to developing and sustaining this!

[curlylocks]

Thanks Gumshoe. Yes, I'm all confuzzled with the bank holidays! Someone else has since explained. Will try to come in next Mon, but good to know there will be other possibilities in the future.

[BornAgainSELondoner]

Just a quick note to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has donated to our food bank collections over the past few weeks. We - and Pecan - have been so grateful for your ongoing generosity.

There will be a collection again this coming Monday (12-3 at Oru Space) and we will update you regarding future collection arrangements after that.

A reminder of what Pecan have asked for (they have a particular need for the top four listed items:

Milk (Long Life/UHT)

Fruit Juice (Long Life)

Baked Beans

Rice Pudding

Pasta sauce

Meat Soup

Tinned Mixed Veg

Tinned fish

Jam

Tinned Meat (Pork and Non-Pork)

Tinned tomatoes

Rice Pudding

Tinned Fruit

Toiletries (toothpaste/brushes, shower gel, deodorant, shaving foam, razors)

Thank you. x

[yeknomyeknom]

I went past Oru today and it looks fabulous. I hope the pandemic doesn?t hit you too hard and you do well on the lane, best wishes.

[StClementwithStPeter]

There's also a collection point outside St Clement with St Peter's church on Friern Road.

We've had a brilliant response so far with dozens and dozens of bags of food going to Pecan. Thank you everyone.

Please keep it coming! See list above and check out @sclementwspeter for updates.

http://stclementwithstpeter.btck.co.uk/

[gumshoe]

Hello all!

We are so pleased that we have extended our collection for Pecan until 8th June 2020. These again will be at Oru Space on Mondays 12 - 3. Oru will also be accepting donations during their opening hours throughout the week, but on Mondays we will have volunteers on site to assist :)