Sufra NW London
Our objectives
Sufra is a charity in North West London that prevents hunger, fights poverty and builds community.
With the help of our volunteers and partners, we coordinate a network of food banks, kitchens, a community shop and café. These act as a gateway for guests to access more holistic support – including welfare advice, asylum support and our award-winning community garden.
We aim to work with our guests to find solutions to their challenges together, whilst campaigning against the causes of hunger and poverty.
Our activities
Our services include:
- Food Bank: Our Food Bank provides emergency supplies of essential food and toiletries to individuals and families experiencing acute crisis. Our parcels are typically made up of a mixture of non-perishable and perishable items.
- Community Wellbeing Service: The Community Wellbeing Service launched to offer relief from the rising cost of living for local families. Unlike the Food Bank, this is not a crisis or emergency service. The project provides preventative support for local families and enables members to access a wide range of support under one roof, in order to build financial and personal resilience.
- Community Kitchen: Our Community Kitchen services are open all year round, serving hundreds of meals every week to hungry guests including those who access Sufra’s services and beyond. Our Community Kitchens are a place to come together and build community, while sharing a delicious meal.
- Advice Service: Our Advice Workers offer ongoing face-to-face guidance and support for people in crisis on a range of issues such as benefits, housing and employment.
- OpenARMS: The OpenARMs (Asylum Seekers, Refugee and Migrants) Programme aims to empower guests to become independent and to build a new life in our local community. Supported includes, tailored advice, ESOL classes and advocacy groups.
- St. Raphael’s Edible Garden: Our beautiful Community Garden emerged from a local campaign run by residents, to develop a food growing project for the community. It is a therapeutic space and has a wealth of edible produce; Fruits, vegetables and varieties of herbs. This is a communal space to teach & learn new skills from each other, build confidence in food growing practices and support health and wellbeing.
Each of these services is designed to lead vulnerable people on a personal journey from crisis to social and financial inclusion and, ultimately, active participation in the community and economic stability.
We rely heavily on our dedicated team of volunteers to ensure that we can deliver these services.