Food banks join forces to meet growing demand in community

Two food banks which independently support thousands of South Londoners are joining forces to meet growing demand for their services.

Lambeth South and Croydon Foodbank, formerly Norwood and Brixton Foodbank, has announced its merger with Waterloo Foodbank.

The newly-formed Lambeth and Croydon Foodbank is now located at the Oasis St Martin’s Village in Tulse Hill.

The move comes in response to the “huge growth” in community need and number of operations provided by the food banks over the past five years.

Both food banks are part of the Trussell network.

In Lambeth, Trussell Trust’s food banks distributed 27,473 emergency food parcels between 2023 to 2024, up by almost 10 per cent from the previous year.

End of year data released by the Trust in December 2024, revealed a 231 per cent increase in food parcels distributed by Trussell network food banks across London since 2017.

At the time, chief executive at the Trussell Trust Emma Revie said: “We’re facing historically high levels of food bank need. As a society, we cannot allow this to continue. We must not let food banks become the new norm.”

Waterloo Foodbank is part of Oasis Community Hub Waterloo and has served the community with emergency food parcels and wraparound support since 2011.

Lambeth and Croydon Foodbank will continue to use the infrastructure of Oasis Hub Waterloo, including its community space, advice and youth work, family support and early years sessions. The food bank referral system, and much of the day-to-day support will continue to operate as before.

Operations director at Oasis Hub Waterloo, Rebekah Gibson, said: “We’ve loved working closely with Lambeth South and Croydon Foodbank over many years and we’re excited about this next step to align our work even more closely by bringing Lambeth South and Croydon Foodbank into the Oasis family.”

The merger follows more than a decade of expansion by Lambeth South and Croydon Foodbank.

Originally launched as Norwood and Brixton Foodbank in 2011, the service quickly expanded with another distribution centre in Brixton in March 2012, followed by a space in Streatham Hill.

The project saw demand steadily grow to support those in crisis across Lambeth and Croydon, particularly through the Covid-19 pandemic.

In 2022, the service was renamed Lambeth South and Croydon Foodbank. That year the foodbank fed more than 27,000 people through its emergency parcels, donations and deliveries.

A spokeswoman said: “We are supported by an incredible team of volunteers and we are incredibly thankful to all our supporters for donating food, cash or time. Without your generosity we would not be able to carry on what we do.”

Pictured top: Volunteer working in a warehouse filled with food supplies for Norwood and Brixton, Waterloo and Vauxhall Foodbanks working together during Covid-19 pandemic (Picture: Eleanor Bentall)