As the coronavirus pandemic unfolds in the UK, our main priority is ensuring the safety of everyone who comes to our food bank – whether it’s someone needing help, someone volunteering their time, or someone making a donation.

Things are changing quickly, so we’ll keep this page updated regularly with information about what’s happening at Redbridge Foodbank and how people can access support and help us be there for people in crisis.

We’re still supporting people with emergency food at Redbridge Foodbank and will do for as long as is possible. However, we’re running a reduced service due to measures put in place to allow us to continue serving the community in a safe manner and slow the spread of infection:

• Our Gracevine Community Church, New Testament Church of God and City Gates distribution centres will be closed until further notice.
• All vouchers should be presented at our Jubilee Church Distribution centre, which will operate at the normal opening times.
• To protect our clients and volunteers we will only distribute pre-made food parcels at the entrance of the building. All clients will still need to have a red voucher in order to redeem a parcel – the rest of the building will remain closed, so there will be no amenities available for the clients.
• We ask our clients to be patient and if possible, to avoid queuing before our opening times, in order to avoid unnecessary contact.

In the meantime, we need you, our local community, to continue donating vital food supplies. While we haven’t run out of all donations, there are certain items we’re running low on. Your support is vital at this time, so if you’re considering donating, we’re particularly in need of:

• Tinned tomatoes
• Tinned meat
• Tinned fish
• Long life fruit juice
• Packet noodles

Any donations should be dropped off at the Jubilee Church Distribution Centre via our side entrance (on left-hand side of the church building in Valentine’s Road). If you are concerned about dropping off your donation, you could consider ordering online and have the order delivered to us directly, or even make a financial donation by clicking here https://redbridge.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-money/

You can find out more about the Trussell Trust network’s response to coronavirus here and you can follow us on Twitter (@redbridgefb), Instagram (Redbridge.Foodbank) or on Facebook [/redbridge.foodbank] to stay up to date.