Alternatives to food banks

[Painedd]

I don’t get paid till Thursday and have no food, but the food bank isn’t open today.

Are there any alternatives?

Some areas have religious soup kitchen/food banks run by various different faiths. Are you able to give an idea of which city you are near for people to direct you? They are sometimes called "free cafes".

Some areas have private initiatives that run as food banks but aren't official but you can find more information by word of mouth.

Look to see if there are any markets or gallery nights that might come with free food (obviously highly dependant on the area you're in).

Lastly would you perhaps be able to offer a service in exchange for a meal? Even if it is just "I can tidy your lawn for some bread and cheese" or something similar? I've certainly seen people doing that locally.

Sheikh temples always have a hot meal for people.

Any church local to you(you don't have to attend church or even be religious)will help you out with food.

Some churches where I live have a vicarage near by and the vicars,reverands in our area keep some food by especially for situations like yours.

You can have a look online and find your nearest church,lots of them have phone numbers(for the vicar)and emails on the churches web pages now.

You'll never be turned away by them and they don't ask for anything in return.

Good Luck OP I hope things start getting better for you soon.

Yes try a church, temple etc.
Soup kitchens?
Are there no other food banks near by?

Sorry you’re in this situation. Echo others, talk to local churches. Do you have children, can school help with their meals (breakfast, after school clubs?)

Ask friends or family if you can 'borrow' some food from them, or go to theirs for a meal. Offer to repay the favour when you get paid. If you were my friend/sister etc I would gladly help you out.

Are there any Junk Food Cafes near you? They will feed you for free and you could donate later if you like.

Or do you have any forgotten Tesco, Morrisons or Sainsburys points that can be used to buy food, or even Boots as they sell a bit of food.

Our local Salvation Army have a drop in lunch service during the week.
Also our Sheikh temple offer food daily.

Olio! It's an app, more about cutting down on food wastage than a food bank or soup kitchen type thing.
People and businesses list things on there that would otherwise be thrown away, including non food items. It'll be different in different areas, but my area has lots of listings from pret, local bakeries and cafés, things like a few portions of pasta salad, pizza slices, bread, rolls, cakes, pastries etc. And other people just clearing out food cupboard, so tins, jars, flour etc.

Listings go on there every day but are snapped up really quickly in my area.

Download it and see what it's got in your area. It's not loads, and you'll have to get to the places giving away the food, but it's something.

Hare Krishna temples offer free food (and it’s really yummy and vegetarian if that matters). You can also get free food from individuals on the OLIO app. You can also try various store apps as they often offer free food when signing up/on your birthday (pretend it’s your birthday tomorrow to increase chances of a freebie). If you are with O2 they also have an app which offers food as perks sometimes.

Hi all,
Just dropping by to post our standard message for this type of thread.

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Right now we can't see any evidence to indicate that the OP isn't above board - if we did, we'd remove the thread straight away. But the truth is that, sadly, we at MNHQ can't know with 100% certainty that any poster is genuine, no matter who they are or how long they have been around. As frustrating as it is, we're not able to vouch for anyone here.

So we always ask everyone to remember that not everyone on the internet is who they say they are - and remind folk not to give more to another poster, either financially (in cash or gifts) or emotionally (in time or care and support) than they'd be prepared to lose if things went wrong.

Best wishes to you OP and we hope that the advice given so far is useful.

A Gurdwara (Sikh Temple) has free hot food available to all.

Just need to have your head covered (head coverings usually provided).

I’m not sure why my post was deleted? Could MNHQ point out exactly what part of the guidelines it broke?