Spotlight on St Peter’s Brockley - a journey from foodbank to pantry to community table

St Peter’s Brockley Foodbank opened in 2020 during the pandemic to support people experiencing food insecurity in their local SE4 area after seeing an increase in people asking for support at the church. They joined Lewisham's Food Giving Network later that year to connect and learn from other community food projects.

In 2021 they developed from a foodbank into a social supermarket (often known as a pantry). A social supermarket is where members pay a small weekly/regular membership to choose a set amount of food, typically mixing surplus and purchased items; designed to stretch budgets and offer greater choice. They are designed to support people on low-incomes on a longer-term basis compared to foodbanks.

Volunteer packing food choices into parcels

Last year, they were thinking about next steps in their food project’s journey when they heard about an opportunity for mentoring support from the First Love Foundation through Good Food Lewisham's network made available via the GLA-funded Food Roots 2 programme. The offer was designed to support food aid providers to develop more sustainable, wraparound support models.

St Peter’s worked with First Love Foundation since April 2025, developing a Theory of Change and a robust wrap-around care model. They re-branded and reopened in October 2025 with the Community Table Model, which includes a monthly community meal, weekly café-style refreshments, and involving more members into volunteering. The membership fee was raised to £4 and is strictly adhered to. This model provides more opportunities for active citizenship with an aim for reducing the need for emergency food support into a more sustainable, dignified approach - in Lewisham with Lewisham's Food Justice Action Plan.

Example of meal served at the monthly meal

Membership now includes :

• Weekly coffee and cake

• Weekly grocery parcel (if needed)

• One-on-one support meetings

• Advice from Citizens' Advice Lewisham

• Monthly meetings with local councillors

• Access to Love Brockley services (job club, courses, therapy, etc.)

• Weekly spiritual discussions

• Monthly community lunch (last Wednesday of each month)

  
  

As a result of these changes, Anne Whyte, who is part of St Peter’s Leadership team, told Good Food Lewisham,

“many more issues are being solved; connection and belonging are emphasised, with emergency food being an added bonus to that”

Volunteer serving food at the community meal

St Peter’s has also reported the following:

• many long-term members now volunteer; some come now just for community and chats and don't take emergency food any longer

• our most important volunteers are people with lived experience

• change is slow and, of course, respecting the agency of the person making (or not making!) the change

Here is an example of someone they have supported with wraparound support:

B. has lived in a studio flat for four years with her husband and 3 children.  A fourth baby is due at the end of March 2026.  They were referred to St Peter’s by a local primary school and in our one-to-one meetings with them they learned of their housing situation.  They visited their flat with them and saw first-hand the awful conditions they were living in.  B. booked an appointment with Citizens Advice Lewisham whose advice secured them a meeting (finally!) with the Council.  They attended the meeting with the family in January 2026 and the Council agreed to help with the deposit and first month's rent on a new place.  They went recently to view a 3-bed property on a lovely road close to the children's school and to St. Peter's as well. 

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Support

 If you would like to volunteer, request support or donate to support the project, please visit their website: Food Bank — St Peter's Brockley

If you are outside of the SE4 area, and are looking for food support or to volunteer, visit our list: COMMUNITY MEALS AND FOOD SUPPORT | Good Food Lewisham

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St Peter's Foodbank is currently funded through the Food Justice Community Grant Programme 2025, funded by Lewisham Public Health and managed by Lewisham Local.

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Recommendations for community food projects

·       Look at ways to develop volunteering opportunities for members and service users to offer ways to get involved and contribute to the project

·       Find out what the reasons people are seeking support and develop a wraparound support offer to meet those needs

·       Make sure volunteers and staff are aware of what support is available- ideally attending future Advice First Aid training

·       Ensure the membership fee and offer is clearly defined and meets the needs of members (for social supermarkets)

·       Try and develop social elements that allow for opportunities for people to cook, eat or grow together.

Foodbanks are welcome to visit St Peter’s and other pantries to learn how the model works and how they might benefit from this.

If you are a community food project looking for support in developing into a social supermarket or develop or promote your offer, get in touch with the Good Food Lewisham team - goodfood@lewishamlocal.com