Give Help
Donate food
Our foodbank relies on your goodwill and support.
Traditionally, over 90% of the food distributed by foodbanks in The Trussell Trust network is donated by the public – that’s why your food donations are absolutely vital to our ability to give everyone referred to us a balanced and nutritious three- day supply of food. Since 2023, that figure is now around 50% due to the increased need and donations falling.
What food to donate
The shopping list on this page shows the food items that we need to pack most food parcels. We often run out of UHT milk, tinned meat meals, tinned vegetables, tinned fruit and long life fruit juice.
All food donated should be in-date, unopened and the sort of food that can be kept in a cupboard without refrigeration, e.g. tins and packets (and not chilled or frozen). If you have surplus food that you can’t donate to a foodbank, including frozen, opened and out-of-date food, check out apps like Olio for free sharing in your local community.
We welcome donations of baby food, in jars, pouches, rusks etc; however we do not give out infant formula milk or powder (stage 1 and 2). This follows national guidance, where parents’ choices should be supported by relevant services with expertise in infant feeding, in line with the Baby Friendly Initiative standards.
Food donation updates and reminders
Bank the Food is a simple app that connects you to your nearest foodbank whenever you go shopping in a supermarket that has a foodbank collection point.
When you install the app you’ll be prompted to add your nearest foodbank. You can see our most needed items any time. Set up your notifications and when you go into a supermarket where you can donate to the foodbank your phone will ping and remind you to donate if you can, with the priority shopping list. You can also check for requests for other kinds of help, like volunteering time or cash collections. There is an option to track your donations so you can see your impact over time or work towards a donation goal. See how the app works in this short animated video.
Installing and using Bank the Food is completely free. Bank the Food started here in Southend and is now nationwide. You can listen/read interviews about the development of Bank the Food in Southend on Radio 2 with Jeremey Vine and on BBC Essex.
Find out more and download the app by visiting the Bank the Food website.
Where to donate
View our food donation points on a map bit.ly/MapFoodbank, which you can also use to get directions.
If you live in Leigh-on-Sea, check out Leigh Tin Team, to see if there is a street collection near you.
If there isn’t a donation point near you, is there a local business or community venue you could ask to host one? If so, please get in touch to have a chat about setting up a collection point – email [email protected]
You can donate at these supermarkets, as well as community locations, directly to the warehouse and any of the churches where we hold our distribution centres.
| Location of food donation point | Opening hours | Comments |
| Tesco Extra, Prince Avenue, Southend, SS0 0JP | 06:00-22:00 | Please note only food bought from Tesco is eligible for the 20% top up. Please mark food that is bought elsewhere. Thank you for your understanding! |
| Waitrose, London Road, Leigh on Sea, SS9 3JQ | 08:00-20:00 | Front of store near exit |
| Asda, North Shoebury Road, Shoeburyness, SS3 8DA | 06:00-00:00 | Front of store near exit. Please note only food bought from the store is eligible for the 20% top up. Please mark food that is bought elsewhere. Thank you for your understanding! |
| WAREHOUSE, Friendship House, 484 Southchurch Road, SS1 2QA | 09.00-13:00 |
Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays CLOSED ON BANK HOLIDAYS |
| Co-op Food – 109 – 121 Rochford Road, SS2 6SY | 7am – 10pm | Open everyday |
| Sainsbury’s Local – 1355-1369 London Road, Leigh-On-Sea SS9 2AB | 7am – 11pm | Open everyday |
| 7:30 – 9pm weekdays |
7:30 – 8pm Saturday 11am – 5pm Sunday |
|
| 8am – 10pm | 10am-4pm Sundays | |
| 8am-10pm Mon – Sat | 10am-4pm Sundays | |
| 10am-11am | Sunday, Monday and Wednesday each week | |
| Shoebury and Thorpe Bay Baptist Church, SS3 9JD | 9-5 Mon-Fri, 9-1 Sat, and from 9.30-10.30 and 11.30-12.30 on Sundays |
|
| West Leigh Baptist Church, SS9 2AJ | Monday – Friday usually 9-1, Wednesday 9-4. | |
| Belle Vue Baptist Church, SS1 2QZ | Whenever the church is open – please drop items into the wooden foodbank collection crate near the front entrance doors. | |
| Earls Hall Baptist Church, SS0 0RJ | Sundays from 10am, before the main service | |
| Ticket office, Southend United, 299 Victoria Avenue, SS2 6NQ | Whenever the Blues Box Office is open | |
| Blue Boar pub, 117 Victoria Avenue, SS2 6EQ |
Collection crate at the bar, whenever the pub is open | |
| The Spread Eagle pub, 267 Victoria Avenue SS2 6NE | Collection crate at the bar, whenever the pub is open | |
| Tesco Esso Express, 500 Southchurch Road SS1 2QA | Open 24 hours | |
| Shared Space charity shop, 593 Southchurch Rd, SS1 2PN |
Donate food and toiletry items in carrier bags please, whenever the shop is open |
Donating food online
Most supermarkets have an online shop and delivery option. You can arrange for a supermarket delivery to be sent to the warehouse, but please arrange this with the warehouse team first as the building is only open for deliveries on limited days and times during the week. Generally, the warehouse can take deliveries 9am – 1pm on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday each week, but please email [email protected] to confirm availability before booking your delivery slot online. Thank you!
All major supermarkets offer free donations on your behalf when you shop online and add EasyFundraising. If you shop for your own family’s groceries online, supermarkets will make a small cash donation – at no extra cost to you – when you use EasyFundraising and nominate Southend Foodbank as your chosen charity.
When you shop online with Morrisons, you can add £3, £5 or £10 vouchers to support your local foodbank, which we can then exchange for the food we need most urgently and get delivered straight to the warehouse.
Common Good is an online shop where the foodbank sets up a wishlist of the items we need and anyone can go online, buy from the shopping list and we get those items delivered straight to the warehouse for free. Most of the items on the list are bulk buys or multi-packs, which makes this a more cost-effective way of donating priority items.
Bankuet works by taking a shopping list from the foodbank and then buying items wholesale and delivering them to us in bulk, spending money that people donate. You can give £10 once or regularly and then let Bankuet do the shopping for you, and you’ll know that you’ll always be giving us the food items we really need.
You can buy items from our Amazon Wishlist and Shopping List and have them delivered to the foodbank warehouse. If you use EasyFundraising when you shop online at over 7000 retailers, including when you buy groceries for your own familiy, your purchases will be boosted by a small cash donation made on your behalf, without costing you more.
Use social media
Even if you can’t donate right now, you can help boost food donations by sharing donation requests on social media. Our next supporter could come from your Twitter, Facebook or Instagram posts.
Foodbanks often rely on social media to get the message out when they need support as well as using it to reach people who need help. Extra follows and interactions make it easier for foodbanks to stay visible online.
Find, follow and share from Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
We always welcome donations and promise to use them to provide help to people in crisis. Occasionally we send food to other nearby Foodbanks to support their work particularly if they experience shortages. This ensures your donations go to help people wherever in the UK they are.
Please contact us if you have any questions about donating food.