Donate food

Ways to donate

You can donate food to Southend Foodbank in any of the following ways.

What to donate

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  If you have surplus food that you can’t donate to a foodbank, including frozen, opened and out-of-date food, check out apps like Olio for free sharing in your local community.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.

Where to donate

View our food donation points on a map bit.ly/MapFoodbank, which you can also use to get directions.

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.

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 info@southend.foodbank.org.uk

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  warehouse@southend.foodbank.org.uk 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.

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.

Deliver directly to the warehouse

You can donate directly to the warehouse when we are open for drop-offs. Please ring the bell so we know you’re here!

Friendship House, 484 Southchurch Road, SS1 2QA  Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 9am – 1pm.

If you have a large donation, need to arrange a delivery to the warehouse outside of these times or have a question about what can be delivered, please contact the warehouse team via warehouse@southend.foodbank.org.uk 

Community donation points

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.

The Railway Tavern, 108 East St, Southend-on-Sea SS2 6LH. Collection crate at the bar, whenever the pub is open.

Shared Space charity shop, 593 Southchurch Rd,  SS1 2PN. Please donate your food and toiletry items in a carrier bag, only when the shop is open.

Martin and Co. Estate Agents, The Victoria Shopping Centre, Southend-on-Sea SS2 5SP

Churches

Local churches, including all the places where we hold a food bank session, welcome donations. 

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.

Eastwood Baptist Church, Nobles Green Rd, Leigh-on-Sea, Southend-on-Sea, Leigh-on-Sea SS9 5PY.

Leigh Road Baptist Church, Marguerite Drive, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 1NN. 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.

Boosting food requests

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/X and Instagram.