Our History

Earlsfield Foodbank was set up in 2013 by the late Rev. Colin Roberts, parish priest of St John the Divine, with the mission ‘the prevention or relief of poverty in Earlsfield and surrounding areas.’ It became a registered charity in June 2016. It operated out of St John the Divine church on Garratt Lane until March 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the previous management team had to shield, and St John’s was no longer viable. Within a week we had to find a new location, move all stock, set up a new operation and most importantly, let guests know where we are. St Andrew’s kindly stepped in and a new team was quickly put together.

Many of our guests were isolating or shielding, so we had to set up a delivery system. In our first week, we did three deliveries. By the peak of the third lockdown, we were doing 90 deliveries a week, with 25 drivers on our delivery team. We also started doing emergency deliveries for people who could not wait until the Thursday session. 

Foodbank continued to operate on Thursday mornings, but we created a new session on Wednesdays, to sort donations and pack home deliveries. This would have been impossible to do safely on Thursday, given the need for social distancing. 

We also started giving guests additional fresh food, as we were conscious that for many guests, Foodbank was no longer an extension to the food they may be able to afford, but their only food source. This was critical in the early days, when supermarket shelves were bare as people stockpiled supplies. Stockpiling is impossible for those with limited means. 

The Home Café team also stepped in and supplied hot food for our guests, meaning that we could give every guest a nutritious meal to eat that day. The Home Café team also took on many of our guests for their regular hot food deliveries. 

We continued our partnership with Citizens Advice Wandsworth, albeit remotely during lockdown periods. 

In the autumn St. Andrew’s provided us with a Portacabin, to store our stock whilst church services resumed. This helped us cope with the increase in numbers, as we can store more food.

Prior to Covid, an average Foodbank week was 25 households per week. This grew steadily during 2020, and by March 2021 we regularly helped over 110 households per week.