Good Food Lewisham sat down (virtually of course) and had a chat with Tegan, a Lewisham volunteer who has taken bags (and bags) of food and toiletries to a Deptford food project since the crisis began.
“Before Christmas (pre-Covid), the design studio I work for, Studio Raw, was approached by Lewisham Homes to create a cookbook and a website (coming soon) that would raise funds for the Evelyn Community Store in Deptford. Then, all the Covid stuff happened – and as I chatted to Alys at Lewisham Homes, she spoke about how concerned she was. Food donations fell dramatically with all the panic buying at the beginning of the crisis. I just thought, I have access to two big community What’s App group chats. I'm going to grab extra food myself when I go shopping and use my networks to encourage others to do the same – for example, when I buy a can of baked beans, I buy one extra can for the Evelyn Community Store. Although the idea was just for each person to buy one or two extra cans to donate, sometimes we’re given big bags with donations. Someone once dropped a bag of shower gels which was great. We have also been given lots of nappies which are hard to buy at the moment. It’s been pretty easy - we're just a hub or collection point really, anyone could do it. We’ve done three runs and probably donated around 45 bags (but I've lost count!) We went today and the lady nearly started crying. We might put a box outside our house with a sign on it … we might get passing traffic! This will reassure people that they have the right house. I have been posting on social media to reassure people that we are taking the food there and not eating it ourselves!”
To contact Tegan about donating or running a similar project, message her on 07594 684 301.
Evelyn Community Store opens every Tuesday 5pm-7pm for approved members only
