Friday 5 January 2024
Tuesday 17 October 2023
Free 3-Day Community Carpentry Workshop Oct 25th - Oct 27th
Friday 21 July 2023
Monday 23 January 2023
Forest School at Sufra, St Raph's - February dates
Tuesday 8 March 2022
Tackling Food Poverty in Brent: Right to Food Meeting Saturday March 12th March - All Welcome to Share Ideas
A timely meeting as the Cost of Living and Health crises deepen:
We don’t think anyone in Brent should go hungry.
What are the best ways to organise in Brent for food justice and security?
Brent Right to Food want to hear your ideas to develop a local food strategy.
We know there is a huge increase in demand for help from Food Banks and Brent Mutual Aid.
This will get worse as living costs rise and force families to choose between heating and eating.
WHAT IS FOOD POVERTY?
In 2005 the Department of Health defined it as “the inability to afford, or have access to, food to make up a healthy diet”. The Food Foundation [1] says it is the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.”
Food poverty affects so many of us - including working parents, pensioners, people with disabilities, zero-hours contract workers and anyone unemployed.
You may be one of the 11 million people in food poverty in the UK. Brent Poverty Commission found that in 2020 up to 1 in 3 households (17% - 33%) in this Borough live below the poverty line and 22-43% of Brent’s children live in poverty. The pandemic has made this worse.
Food poverty has a major impact on our health – hunger, malnutrition and obesity can lead to diet-related illness far beyond childhood and impacts on our mental health. Studies have shown that poor diet is also linked to disability and earlier death. [2]
Key Factors in Food Poverty
· Low income - people simply cannot afford to buy food
· Variable quality of affordable food on offer
· Lack of support for nutrition, budgeting and cooking skills
· More support needed from suppliers and regulators.
Most of us acknowledge the problem – so now we need to tackle it together
Your ideas are welcome at the Brent Right to Food Summit
on 12th March at Newman College, Harlesden Road NW10 3RN 4-7pm..
BUSES 206, 226. 260, 266, 18 / Bus 187 from Harlesden station [ Overground and Bakerloo Line].
ALL WELCOME Free entry - use the link for your ticket.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/brent-right-to-food-summit-tickets-268924559597
Sat, 12 March 2022 16:00 – 19:00 GMT
Newman Catholic College
Harlesden Road London NW10 3RN
An afternoon of discussion and debate on the Right to Food, and how it can be implemented in the London Borough of Brent.
With participation from:
· Dee Woods, Granville Community Kitchen
· Rajesh Makwana, Sufra NW London
· Kemi Akinola, Be Enriched
· Katie Pascoe, Let's Grow Brent
· Clive Baldwin, Human Rights Watch
· Anne Kittappa, Brent Senior Policy Officer
[1] [Food Insecurity Tracking | Food Foundation says:
“Food insecurity (sometimes referred to as food poverty) is the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. To assess the impact of household food insecurity across the UK, The Food Foundation has been commissioning a series of nationally representative surveys since the outbreak of the Covid pandemic. We track and report on people’s experiences of food insecurity particularly focusing on at risk groups such as families, BAME and ethnic groups, people with disabilities and children on Free School Meals.”
Thursday 23 December 2021
100 Ace Cafe bikers deliver Christmas presents for Sufra foodbank clients. You can help Sufra too.
There was some speculation on social media from people who witnessed 100 bikers dressed as Santa and other Christmas characters speeding in convoy across the borough.
All was revealed in the Sufra Foodbank's latest Newsletter:
This is what Christmas at Sufra NW London is all about: a community of concerned, compassionate people from all backgrounds, faiths and cultures, coming together to give hope and joy (as well as lots of food and professional support) to people in crisis. It’s inspirational to witness.
A huge thank you to everyone who has supported us so far – including 100 Santas from the Ace Café who delivered presents on their motorbikes at the weekend. What a sight!
As I write this, Fahim, Nina and Prince are rallying our amazing volunteers to start prepping 600 Christmas meals (with free-range chicken and all the trimmings), which will be delivered by another set of speedy volunteers to families in need on Christmas Day (yes, really!) along with Christmas presents for all the family. Many of these will go to isolated asylum seekers confined to tiny rooms in contingency hotels.
Meanwhile, YOU have all stepped up too: we’ve hit the halfway mark in our Winter Appeal, which will unlock the Lady Fatemeh Trust’s match funding. This is brilliant news for our guests – thank you for all your support, especially LFT!
Even more great news: The Beta Charitable Trust have generously agreed to match fund the next £15,000 you donate, which means THEY WILL DOUBLE EVERY PENNY YOU GIVE – so please keep giving so that we can help more people like Adam...
Adam’s Story of Hope
Adam (not his real name) found himself homeless and destitute after a series of unfortunate life events that were not his fault. When he arrived at Sufra – cold, hungry and devoid of hope – he was too embarrassed to ask for food or help. Oddly, he started to fix our broken toilet instead. Turns out he was once an excellent plumber.
We provided him with a regular supply of food and arranged emergency accommodation to get him off the streets and keep him warm and safe. Our Advice Team also applied for a grant to get him the tools he needed to start earning a living wage again. We even found him some paid work.
Adam still volunteers to fix all our dodgy plumbing, but he also has a well-paid job and has just signed a lease on a decent flat.
He called Fahim the other day and told him, “I’ll never forget what everyone at Sufra did for me. I had lost all hope and would have never rebuilt my life without you guys. God bless you all.”
The Tip of the Iceberg
We hear touching stories like this every week at Sufra. It’s what keeps us going.
But Adam is just one of the hundreds of people who will come to Sufra for emergency food and support this winter – and we can’t give them hope without your help.
Please click here to donate to our Winter Appeal.
Thursday 22 July 2021
Call for Council to declare Brent a 'Right to Food borough' to overcome food insecurity - sign the petition
A newly formed group has launched a petition calling on Brent Council to declare Brent a 'Right to Food borough'. The petition is HERE and its explanation below:
We are seeing a crisis of food poverty born out of the political choices and systemic failings created over the past four decades which have now reached a tipping point for so many in our communities. The figures are devastating for one of the richest nations in the world, highlighting the pervasive food inequality in the UK today.
The pandemic has exacerbated existing food insecurity, with a massive increase in emergency Council assistance and the use of Food Banks in our Borough. Sufra NW London food aid reported a 200% increase in demand for food aid during the initial three months of the pandemic alone, and the situation is likely to worsen as the furlough scheme is scrapped and rent eviction bans are lifted. Food poverty is the result of structural injustices connected to health, housing, employment and wider social inequalities. It needs systemic solutions that empower communities with public resources, including land, retail space and procurement directed toward a more just and sustainable local food system.Brent Right to Food was launched on Saturday 10 July with the aim of bringing together the various community initiatives seeking to address food insecurity in our Borough.
We ask Brent workers, residents and communities to join our call for
(a) the Leader of the Council Muhammad Butt to declare Brent a Right to Food Borough in support of the national campaign led by Ian Byrne MP
(b) the development of a Brent Food Justice Strategy in partnership with local food organisations that can ensure all Brent residents have access to affordable, nutritious and culturally-appropriate food every day of the year across their whole lifetime
Thursday 24 December 2020
Please support Sufra Foodbank's Covid-19 Winter Appeal as they call for a more just and beautiful world
I am sharing this message from Sufra Food Bank and Kitchen as it puts their amazing work into a wider context and because they deserve support.
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A Community UnitedNo matter how much food aid we distribute, it will never be enough. That’s why we will be raising our voice to call for real change in 2021 – and I hope you will join us. Until then, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all our phenomenal volunteers, donors and supporters who have made what we do possible this year – under the most challenging circumstances imaginable. It’s been utterly inspiring to see our community unite against the threat of hunger and destitution and provide a lifeline to thousands of families experiencing crisis and isolation during the pandemic. I imagine that’s what Jesus would have done too. The heartfelt community response that underpins our work should give us all hope this Christmas that the creation of a more just and beautiful world is not only necessary, but possible. Wishing you all a safe Christmas and a much improved new year. Rajesh and the Sufra Team. |
Tuesday 17 March 2020
Sufra's Coronavirus Emergency Appeal: 'The situation is dire'
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Tuesday 10 March 2020
Sufra Foodbank: Coronavirus Will Affect Services for the Most Vulnerable - Appeal for donations & changes in service
A Note from the Director
It’s the last thing we need when experiencing the highest demand for emergency food aid in our history: Coronavirus.
While people are fighting over the last toilet roll in their supermarket, our donations of food from the public are dwindling, and we are struggling to purchase the food and toiletries we provide in the quantities we need. It’s likely that the situation will deteriorate further in coming days.
Aside from a host of additional hygiene measures designed to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus in our community, we are having to make some difficult choices about how – and if – we can run our services.
Never before in our history have we cancelled Food Bank or Community Kitchen – not even when it falls on Christmas Day or Easter Sunday. But we have now stripped back our services to ensure that we can still support the most vulnerable in a way that minimises potential transmission.
Our guests (service users) have more vulnerabilities than the average population. Many of them are refugees or asylum seekers with links to Iran, Italy and other countries which have experienced high risk of infection.
From this week, our Community Kitchen will operate on a take-away basis, meanwhile all of our advice work for food bank guests, refugees and asylum seekers will be done over the phone.
It’s likely that by next week we may need to move to Phase 2 of our action plan, which will involve shifting to a delivery-only service for the majority of our food bank guests.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. All the indications are that the UK is on the precipice of a recession, which will mean that financial donations to the charity will also start drying-up while demand for food aid rises. Add to this the impact of austerity and universal credit and you can see why this really is the perfect storm.
Families that visit food banks simply can’t afford to hoard food in the way that others have been doing in the past few days. That’s why we’re asking you to donate surplus food or toiletries to Sufra NW London (or any other food bank near you). Click here to see a list of items we need.
Please also consider making a financial donation to help get Sufra through the next few months.
Thank you.
Rajesh Makwana
Director @SufraNWLondon
Thursday 25 July 2019
Great opportunity for 11-18 year olds at Sufra Summer Academy
From Sufra NW London (Ed: This is brilliant!)
- Monday 19th, Tuesday 20th, Thursday 22nd and Friday 23rd August 2019, from 10am to 5pm
- Monday 26th, Tuesday 27th, Thursday 29th and Friday 30th August 2019, from 10am to 5pm
Notice: Please be aware that there will be no classes on Wednesdays.
If you are interested in enrolling, please download and compete the Registration Form (see link below) and return it to admin@sufra-nwlondon.org.ukPlease note: The course is offered free of charge, but we do require a £10 fully-refundable deposit for each participant.
Tuesday 23 October 2018
Sufra Foodbank issues urgent van appeal - please help & join in One Tonne Fundraising Walk
From Sufra NW London
I have some tragic news.
After 5 years of loyal service, collecting and distributing the equivalent of over half a million meals, our lonf-suffering van has suffered a fatal electric failure. The cost of repair does not make it a viable investment. It is now destined for the scrap heap.
Our work is dependent on the van. It runs 7 days/week, 365/days of the year. Though it operates mainly within a 3 miles radius, it has travelled over 10,000 miles in the last year. Without it, the Food Bank might just as well close its doors.
Today, we are launching an urgent Van Appeal to raise £20,000 in the next 6 weeks. We must purchase a replacement in time for Christmas - our busiest time of the year. We simply have no choice.
So, I turn to you, to beg for your support. Please make a donation to our Van Appeal here.
The ONE Tonne Walk
On Saturday 10 November 2018, we have a major food collection at Asda Wembley Park. How will we get 1 tonne of donated food to the Food Bank?
We will carry it by hand.
To support the Van Appeal we are launching the most outlandish fundraising walk in history on Saturday 10 November 2018 from 1pm to 4pm. The ONE Tonne Walk will see volunteers carrying crates and dragging yellow bins full of food from Asda Wembley Park, past Brent Civic Centre and Wembley Stadium, down Harrow Road to Sufra NW London.
Along the way we will distribute Van Appeal flyers, protest against food poverty (with banners and placards!) and make a shocking racket with drums and trumpets.
Because we will #FightFoodPoverty.
We need YOU to take part in The ONE Tonne Walk on Saturday 10 November 2018. Please register here.
If you can't carry a heavy crate, you can carry a donation box. If you can't drag a yellow bin of food, you can hold a placard.
Or you can just walk in solidarity with us.
You may want to fundraise. You may just want to protest against food poverty. But together we will raise £20,000 to purchase a new van and enable the Food Bank to deliver over 100,000 meals every year - for many years to come.
Make a donation here.
Sign up for The ONE Tonne Walk here.
Together we can do this. Don't let the team down.
Mohammed S Mamdani
Director
Wednesday 18 April 2018
Refugee Resettlement: Just £2 donation from you will help Sufra win £1,000 of match-funding
Sufra NW London is in line to win £1,000 of match-funding thanks to Lamyaa Hanchaoui, a spoken word poet, who is fundraising for our Refugee Resettlement Programme.
But we need YOUR help to win.
The charity that receives 250 individual donations wins. So please support Lamyaa by donating just £2 using on her fundraising page here. Just £2. No more.
[To be clear, it doesn’t matter how much you donate. It is the number of people who back us that will determine whether we win.]
If we win, we can help more people like Hiba, a refugee from Syria
This is what she says (translated into English):
“I came to this country from Syria a year ago with my husband and two daughters. After the start of the Syrian civil war, we fled our homes and lived in a refugee camp in Lebanon. The conditions were terrible. Thankfully, we were selected for resettlement in the UK as part of the Vulnerable Person Resettlement Scheme (VPRS).
I remember the first night that we arrived. It was cold and windy, and everything looked so different. As we entered our flat, we were greeted by staff and volunteers of Sufra NW London who brought us food, bedding and household supplies. We will never forget that.
Since then, the charity has helped us in so many ways – whenever we have a problem we know that we can call Sufra NW London. It is very hard when you do not speak the language and you do not understand local traditions and customs. With the help of Sufra NW London, I have started English classes and my husband has found a work placement with a local construction company.
We may never be able to return to Syria, but I am blessed that we have a new home in the UK.”
Support our Refugee Resettlement Programme with a donation of just £2 here.
To thank you for your help, Lamyaa Hanchaoui would like to gift you a track of her spoken word poetry on the Syrian refugee crisis, which is available here. You can also read more about her motivations for supporting our Refugee Resettlement Programme on her blog, available here.
Final Call
Over 70% of tickets for Sufra NW London’s Fifth Anniversary Party on Thursday 26 April 2018 have disappeared! To avoid missing out, register here. I hear there’s going to be a chocolate fountain.