Islington Foodbank is reopening

Islington Foodbank is reopening on Saturday 22nd August, having been closed since March due to coronavirus. 

In order to keep our volunteers and clients safe, we are introducing a new appointments-based system. Under the new system, a voucher can only be redeemed with an appointment. Find out more about how the new system will work. 

We are also introducing other measures to ensure that the food bank is as safe as possible. Food parcels will be prepared in advance, there will be fewer volunteers present at each shift, and hand sanitiser and PPE will be provided to all volunteers. While things will be different, our ethos remains the same: we are here to help people in need in our local community, and will continue to do so as best we can given current circumstances.

While we have been closed, we have done our best to redirect clients to alternative sources of help. Initially we worked closely with three organisations: The Pilion Trust, Andover Community Centre and the Islington brand of SVP. During our closure, other organisations made use of empty premises to provide help to Islington residents. These included use of the space at the Emirates Stadium, a food bank at Elizabeth House and Newington Green Hub. King Cross Church also started a food bank to help residents that lived in their catchment area. The wide dispersion across the borough of these organisations meant that residents were able to get access to local help.

The trustees of Islington Foodbank had to make sure that adequate risk assessments were undertaken in order to make sure that any reopening plans would not fall foul of the very reasons we closed in the first place.  We have spent the last few months overhauling our previous working model and we now feel we are in a position to be able to open our doors once again. This is a position that will continue to be under review but we are glad that we have found new processes which should help each volunteer at Islington Foodbank deliver our service in a safe manner.

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