Lifeafterhummus provides food aid by operating a social supermarket and re-use centre for 80 local households and a redistribution network that supports 11 local hostels, 1 after-school club and a faith group. And passive clothing rails at 2 local nurseries, 1 local secondary school and 1 local library. We are powered by 50 local volunteers who collect surplus from 45 stores weekly and support our 2 members of staff.

We have 2 FTE members of staff who manage the operations at our society. We collect and redistribute 5 tonnes worth of surplus food every month from circa 45 local stores and supermarkets. Thanks to 50 local volunteers. Many of whom are local residents of St Pancras and Somers Town who volunteer 1.5hrs a week to access a surplus food shop in our social supermarket. Often having a value of circa £40. Collections and redistributions are done using a mixture of hand carts, bicycle trailers, e-cargo bike and using the cars of volunteers. Our volunteers provide 585 hours per month at a value of £7,780 of in-kind support. The surplus we collect has a value of circa £15,000 per month (according to figure from WRAP). St Pancras and Somers Town ward is a multi-deprived ward in the borough of Camden and many of the local residents who volunteer have health/ complex health needs. The surplus food we collect is redistributed to roughly 80 local households, 11 local hostels, 1 after-school club (twice per week) and 1 faith group. We also accept pre-loved items which we sort and redistribute in our call our 'Room of things'. Where local residents can access: clothing, household items, stationery items, toys and children books. Items that are damaged and broken are taken to Regis Road Recycling Centre. Pre-loved items are further distributed on passive clothing rails (take what you need) at 2 local nurseries, 1 local secondary school in partnership with the sixth formers and 1 Camden Council library. We also have a surplus food cart outside of the centre and a passive clothing rail. Alongside this we provide sign-posting, referrals, social prescriptions, DofE and work experience to our young people and hands-on employability support to local residents.

We are able to provide this level of support thanks to local and national funders, personal donations from everyday people who believe in our work, support from Camden Council and some corporate partners. We are not a commissioned service. We are extremely grateful to funders who provide unrestricted funds. Our rent alone is £10,500pa and like everyone we have seen our utility costs increase. Wastage costs for is £400 per quarter thanks to a discount from Veolio which we appreciate. We are also a London Living-Waged employer. Essentials we still purchase averages £150 every 2 weeks. The cost of living crisis isn't going away any time soon and we need your help to meet increased demand. We are just scratching the surface on what is possible to create a waste-free Camden.

We would like to:

• Host workshops based on our recommendations from our report (below) with key Council Officers and departments and extend the invite to the GLA, Feeding Britain, ReLondon, Veolia, NLWA, Healthwatch Camden, VAC, Camden Giving, Cooperation Town, Refugee Community Kitchen, Food For All and IFAN and members of the Camden Climate Alliance.
• Set-up collection points at local businesses for food, clothing and household items
• Access to PAT tested WEEE that businesses no longer need to distribute locally
• Education days around waste prevention with local businesses
• Conversation with contract caterers to access frozen-down food and surplus
• Waste prevention activities at local schools
• Set up more passive clothing rails at local nurseries and schools
• Better advertisement by the council of the work we do and the volunteering opportunities we have
• To expand the employability we are doing
• Pilot collection and waste drives on local estates in collobaration with the council

If you wish to support the work we do by donating money you can:

1) You can donate via our Local Giving page:
https://localgiving.org/charity/lifeafterhummus/
2) Donate by bank transfer:
Lifeafterhummus Community Benefit Society Limited
Lloyds Bank Treasurer’s Account - Branch sort code: 30-90-89 - Account no.: 39836268

WE ARE RECRUITING:

Creative chef and community educator

FUNDERS:

View our 6 month data impact report here.

See our latest set of accounts here.

Do you offer corporate volunteer day? Yes we do, click here to find out more.

COMMUNITY RESEARCH:

"The case for creating Ultra-Low and Local Circular Food Waste Zones in Camden and beyond"

Hyper-Local food waste zones present a major opportunity to reduce hunger and carbon emissions. This report demonstrates the potential in just one small corner of London - Somers Town in Camden. Through smart coordination powered by plentiful local volunteers, unwanted food could be turned into thousands of meals without leaving this small neighbourhood. We found that 109 local businesses surveyed reported 4400 litres of edible food waste each week, causing unnecessary carbon emissions in its disposal. At least half of the 30+ local VCS organisations surveyed that provide a food service say their users report insufficient food and hunger often or very often. By saving edible food from disposal our conservative estimate shows at least 47 tons of C02 emissions could be avoided per year. Redistributing this food would provide Somers Town residents with 45,000 - 113,000 additional meals every year (worth £65,000-£164,000).
Click here to read the full report and our recommendations: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M48xxTw2yVwkYrUJ3JIpgRdpHQGp7gVe/

"A Report into Housing Conditions in Phoenix Court: The Case for Retrofit"

The purpose of this report is to highlight and identify any possible environmental issues residents of Phoenix Court face in their homes. Further to simply listing such issues, the report’s main aim is to elaborate how residents’ quality of life is impacted. In order to gather this qualitative data, we carried out a series of in-depth interviews with residents. Importantly, residents were invited to explain in their own words the various and nuanced consequences of living day to day over many years in such poor housing conditions. The report’s main findings are the high prevalence of mould, cold, condensation and damp within homes. Residents consistently described negative impacts on their physical and psychological health, social lives as well as financial hardship and difficulty achieving thermal comfort in their homes.

Phoenix Court was chosen as a case study for this report as residents had approached Lifeafterhummus Community Benefit Society with concerns over housing conditions. The number of concerns raised, and their similarity, has made it apparent that strong action needs to be taken to improve the thermal efficiency and environmental conditions in Phoenix Court. As outlined in this report, the desperate improvements that are needed stand not only to make Phoenix Court a more energy efficient building, but importantly, they offer an immediate and effective solution to improving residents’ quality of life. Not only can residents’ lived experiences be improved by a potential retrofit, but there is also a possibility to achieve substantial carbon savings. This makes Phoenix Court an ideal candidate for a retrofit project as part of the Somers Town Future Neighbourhood scheme.
Click here to read the full report and proposed solutions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1h-0AzeJ5bdC8AumxuG8TJers5yoXrxxF/

 

"Ensuring equitable access to primary healthcare in Regent's Park and St Pancras and Somers Town wards in Camden - Obstances and solutions"

The findings of this report are a result of a community action research project conducted by Lifeaftrhummus community researchers between November 2022 and April 2023. This was commissioned by Voluntary Action Camden and Public Health Camden and Islington. The research was carried out to answer the following questions:

‘What are the major obstacles preventing the residents of Regent’s Park and St Pancras Somers Town wards from accessing good primary healthcare appointments?’ 

‘What are the solutions to ensure access to good primary healthcare appointments in the area?’
Click here to read the full report and proposed solutions: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BX3Q-YeTjt5D-OCn4gULtIvEDGYtVHn2pOO6YmgSh3E/