Southgate Mosque Food Bank
“The pre-prepared ready meals are especially helpful in the winter, as many people are struggling with the high cost of energy bills.”
The service has been running for over a year, but it was initially quite limited in what it could provide. Farrah Mosaheb, who helps co-ordinate the service explains: “We mostly relied on donations from local supermarkets and our wider community, but it was very limited. What we were really lacking was fresh food and chilled and frozen items. It was mainly cupboard and tinned items of food.”
Since the charity started receiving weekly deliveries from The Felix Project, it has seen an immense change. Farrah adds: “The Felix Project has made a transformational change, because now people are getting access to more nutritious foods. We receive such good quality fruit and vegetables. We also receive dairy products, bread and snacks, chilled products and ready meals as well. So, it’s a whole new offering. The pre-prepared ready meals are especially helpful in the winter, as many people are struggling with the high cost of energy bills, and some of the meals are freezable, therefore there’s more occasions when they can have a nice hot meal later in the week or month.”
The food bank receives around 825kg of food each week. A team of volunteers sorts and stores the food ready for distribution on Mondays. The foodbank serves around 130 households each week, with around 440 household members. The demand for support has been growing and numbers keep increasing. Farrah adds: “Every week we’re registering new guests. I think word has spread about the quality of food from The Felix Project, so awareness is higher, and numbers go up. But there are definitely more people struggling, there’s a greater need due to the cost-of-living crisis.”
Farrah also notes the positive impact on families: “Many of the guests we serve have families, its great knowing that we can provide them with something nutritious. I love it when our guests tell us what they have been making with some of the food – especially if we get in something new or different. Overall, we receive so much wonderful feedback, it’s been amazing.”