A business complex in Brixton has been transformed into a free supermarket for local families, in a community initiative aimed at households struggling to afford food and everyday essentials.
The event, organised by City Welfare CIC, saw a space normally used for beauty treatments and business turned over for an afternoon so residents could collect necessities. Organisers, volunteers, businesses and donors came together for the day of practical community support.
City Welfare, a community interest company founded in Brixton in 2020, says its work combines emergency food provision with longer-term community support across London. The organisation says it has been running initiatives of this kind since the Covid pandemic.
“People who do not even have basic toiletries or food”
Pastor Tobi Adegboyega, the event’s lead coordinator and a donor, said the need on show was hard to believe.
“Each time I hear their stories, I cannot believe this is happening in a place like London,” he said. “We are talking about people who do not even have basic toiletries or food. It’s unbelievable.”
Lee B. Rayment, editor of Charity Today, who attended the event, said it was “a marvellous show of unity between cultures and faiths, with people coming together to help their neighbours through a difficult time”.
“Food and everyday essentials can mean a great deal to a household under financial pressure,” he said. “Just as valuable is being welcomed, treated with dignity and reminded that there are people willing to help.”
Alongside the distribution of supplies, the day was also presented as an example of people from different backgrounds working towards a shared purpose, with everyone from those making the premises available to volunteers and donors playing a part.
The Brixton initiative is one of several community efforts across the capital this month, from fundraising to save local landmarks to campaigns supporting London institutions through change.
