This week has been busy at RCH. Thanks to an unexpected influx of surplus food from Marks & Spencer, we’ve been able to give away generous amounts of food to people across the community – completely free of charge.
We’ve had tables full of sandwiches , vegetables, fruit, cakes dips, and more – all perfectly good to eat and saved from going to waste. Its been amazing to see the community come together to collect food, help spread the word, and make sure nothing is thrown away.
The sudden volume of surplus food is due to the recent cyber attacks affecting some supermarket supply chains, including M&S. These disruptions have led to large amounts of food needing to be redistributed quickly.
Trinity Church has been doing an incredible job sharing surplus food, but the sheer quantity became more than their space could handle – so they kindly passed some of it on to us.
We want to reassure everyone that this isn’t our usual level of food distribution, and sadly, it wont be a permanent arrangement. This extra food support will only continue until M&S are back up and running as normal. Our regular surplus food tables are on a much smaller scale once the current situation is resolved.
We also want to express our solidarity with the teams at M&S and others affected by the cyber attacks. It must be an incredibly challenging time, and we truly admire their efforts to keep food moving and support the community despite the circumstances.
A huge thank you to our volunteers, staff, and everyone who have helped. Your support and community spirit have been incredible.