About City Hive London

Who are we?

City Hive London is a Community Interest Company (C.I.C) which extends a helping hand to the homeless and the financially challenged, through both direct and indirect methods. Founded in 2022, our objective is to enrich our communities by impacting the lives of individuals who are often overlooked.
This project has been set up to support local food banks and establishments that distribute sustenance to those who need it most. As an organisation, we help a range of people; hostel users and those who sleep rough day-to-day; asylum seekers fighting for their safety; refugees desiring to lead a peaceful life; single parents desperate to make ends meet and highly vulnerable members of our society such as the elderly and mentally ill. Different people, with different circumstances, but the same fundamental problem- poverty. We have been known to work with initiatives like the YMCA who accommodate young people in need of extra food and support.

What do we do?

Essentially, we are a hub that does the hard work of gathering funds and supplies so that others don’t have to. Each group we work with understands the specific needs of the people they help and so we endeavour to assist them in bridging their supply gap. Everyone’s experience of poverty is unique, and it’s important that people receive the support suitable for their needs. At City Hive, we bring together the experiences of food banks in our network and their communities, to challenge the structural issues that lock people in poverty, and campaign to assist local people. Many of the food banks in our network are already providing additional support and building local connections to address the causes of poverty where they find themselves, fighting against its effects and the stigma that is associated with living below the breadline.

With approximately 14 million people in the UK living below the poverty line, our services are in higher demand than ever before. Due to the recent pandemic and rise in living costs, poverty has become an even greater problem, with an increasing number of people having to make the choice between paying essential household bills or putting food on the table.

Our mission statement

We have working relationships with supermarkets and private businesses that generously provide us with a source of both non-perishable and fresh groceries, as well as other essential items, which we then share amongst the charitable institutions we are affiliated with.

The products which supermarkets supply are usually items they cannot sell, for example, groceries near to the best before or sell by date. Many branded corporations donate products which cannot be sold after the promotional period, such as items specifically marketed for any national holiday or festive seasons. This helps solve the problem of food waste, resulting in a lower carbon footprint for those corporations which is better for our environment. Some organisations go so far as to set aside a budget to manufacture and donate to goods to hubs such as ourselves, so that we can continue to distribute to local food banks and hostels which house people who need support. 

Members of the public are vital in the work we do. A large portion of the basic items such as canned food, dry pasta, rice and the like, are commonly donated by everyday shoppers at various retail outlets who facilitate this. You may have noticed a basket or trolley during your visit to your local store, usually positioned by the entrance, piled high with food donations ready for organisations like ours to come and collect. Once received, our volunteers then sort through food to check that it’s in date and intact, then packed into bags and boxes. The food is then grouped by date and categorised by product, packed away in crates stored on shelves, ready to be allocated to our network.

Local and industrial farms commonly donate fresh produce to food hubs such as ours, making it possible to provide local soup kitchens with quality ingredients to prepare tasty, nutritious meals to be given to people who do not have the capabilities to do it for themselves. Satisfying hunger is one thing, but at City Hive we also consider the health of those we look after.

On top of all this, we receive contributions of freshly cooked, hot food from local restaurants and individuals with a heart for supporting their community. These meals are carefully managed by our team of volunteers, taking their time to drive around and deliver the food to those in need, whether it be people they encounter in the moment or as a special service directly to the homes of those who regularly depend on our service.   

We also have a team of fundraisers who go out and collect monetary donations from members of the public, which we then use to further our cause. The money goes towards the cost of ingredients for the hot meals, 

Our mission statement

City Hive C.I.C. is on a mission to assist organisations in London and across the UK that care for the poor, with a reliable supply of provisions, whilst directly helping those we come across first-hand.

Our vision is to empower the lives of the needy- homeless people, mental health sufferers and families who cannot afford food.

The values that underpin the work that we do are: 

Respect– we believe everyone should be treated with a standard level of care, regardless of who they are, from our volunteers right through to our beneficiaries. This affects the way we speak to people and even the way we handle the goods we supply.  

Dignity– as a result of showing respect, we want all the people we interact with to walk with their head held high. We want everyone we work with to be proud of what they do and we want to eliminate any sense of shame that our beneficiaries may feel, because anyone could end up needing a helping hand at any time.  

Discretion– because we believe in protecting the dignity of those we serve, we aim to do things tactfully. Whether that means meeting people at their homes or placing our items in non-branded packaging, whatever it may be, we have no desire to air out people’s business.  

Our goals for the next 12 months are:

At the moment we are operating only in London, but we want to expand our reach right across the UK.

OUR SUPPORTERS

We are wholeheartedly thankful to work with a number of organisations who play a huge role in supporting our work to help people in crisis.