London Borough of Tower Hamlets: Food Hub & FOOD Store pantry programme

The Tower Hamlets Food Hub was initially established during the pandemic to provide direct food deliveries to vulnerable residents. It has since evolved into a key logistical centre which collates and distributes food items to support local food banks and other food aid organisations.  

Through investment of both local and central government grants, the site has gone from providing around 10 tonnes of food a week, to having distributed 1,800 tonnes of food since its inception – the equivalent of a week’s food for 45,000 families.  

The operation at Granby Hall (Weavers) accepts goods in from key partners like The Felix Project and HisChurch. On top of this, the council also purchases good value wholesale produce where it is organised by council officers and volunteers before being couriered to voluntary and community sector organisations across the borough. This provides a reliable source of good quality food for more than 60 local organisations operating in the borough, empowering them to support around 10,000 residents a week.  

The delivery of this model has also been achieved while not compromising other council priorities – with 80 per cent of deliveries typically made by carbon neutral means, and the work of staff on the ground empowering volunteers to develop vital soft skills, with many of them using these to find employment.  

The Food Hub is a crucial part of the food support network in Tower Hamlets on which many residents rely and has been widely praised by partners as innovative and important in plugging gaps locally. The hub also supports the council’s other flagship food project – the FOOD Store pantry programme.

The food pantry project seeks to combine the crisis alleviation of food banks with wrap-around holistic support to provide a service that tackles the root cause issues of poverty while maintaining food security and preserving dignity. Pantries are accessed on a member-only basis for a period averaging six months, during which members are able to attend a pantry in their local area and pay a weekly fee of £3.50 in return for £25-35 worth of quality fresh and ambient repurposed food. 

At the same time, members are connected to the Tower Hamlets Community Advice Network and supported through issues including housing, benefits access, employment, debt and others. The intention is that by the end of a membership, members will no longer require food aid due to meaningful and long-term improvements to their financial situation. 

The Tower Hamlets pantry programme was piloted on the Burdett estate (Mile End), where in the first 9 months of delivery, 549 individuals supported with weekly food saw a simultaneous net total debt reduction of more than £24,000 – down 57 per cent. Over the course of two and a half years, seven pantries operating at full capacity are projected to be able to provide a net benefit of £627,900 in food costs to residents, supporting 2,100 service users directly and benefitting an estimated 12,397 people (service users and their households).  

The model takes advantage of established relationships with VCS organisations by funding them to deliver against the council’s model, Family Action being a key partner. Pantry operators are supported by the Food Hub but are also encouraged to build relationships with local businesses and other partners to take advantage of opportunities for food access. 

Six new "FOOD Stores" to tackle food poverty (towerhamlets.gov.uk)

Sameehah Ahmed: [email protected]