Love North Southwark meets local need

Image: Love North Southwark’s Kathleen Heather (right) outside the organisation’s headquarters on the Slippers Estate 

With the cost-of-living crisis continuing to put households under pressure, Community Interest Company Love North Southwark is finding ways to make sure local people needn’t go without.  

Founder Kathleen Heather started the organisation during the Covid lockdown, delivering meals to elderly and vulnerable people. Working firstly with work events company Fooditude, then with charities FareShare and the Felix Project, Love North Southwark took food that would otherwise have gone to waste and distributed it where it was needed.  

The offer evolved into a ‘food pantry’, where people buy food items at low cost. “Not the normal price, but they pay you something, and they don’t feel like they’re taking all the time,” says Kathleen. “That’s better for them, and better on waste too.” Around 60 people use the food pantry on a weekly basis.  

British Land have helped Love North Southwark with donations of both funds and items collected in their offices. “They’ve been very, very supportive,” says Kathleen. “Kita from Canada Water Connect will ring up and ask what’s going on here, then she’ll come down with a bag of nappies, baby cream, food for the shop. She’s so thoughtful.” 

Keeping the baby goods in motion 

The pantry is a free service open to people from Rotherhithe and Bermondsey. But the other strand of Love North Southwark’s efforts is Southwark-wide and open to anyone: Betty’s Baby Bank takes donations of baby and toddler essentials to provide for those need. It’s about to open on Wednesdays as well as Mondays in response to demand.  #

Love North Southwark’s toy drive, supported by British Land, helped over 200 families this year by collecting and distributing new toys.  

“It’s unbelievable what the community have done,” says Kathleen. “They give us so much, it’s lovely. Families who’ve received reusable stuff (cots, baby clothes) give it back once they’re finished, so it’s like a circle. I feel so proud, there’s so many nice people out there.” 

The food pantry and baby bank are run by a group of around 14 volunteers and rely entirely on fundraising – their disco boat event raised £654 this year – and donations.   

Little growers 

Love North Southwark have moved between four venues in as many years having been located at the Biscuit Factory, St Anne’s Church and the Cherry Garden Hall. Since early 2022 they’ve been in their permanent home, which they created in two vacant units on Gataker Street, Slippers Place. With the help of a local handyman, they refurbished the premises with recycled fittings to keep the cost down. 

Now Canada Water Connect, the service that connects people to the opportunities being created by the Canada Water development, are helping Love North Southwark with a new project – sending volunteers from their supply chains to develop an allotment where local children can learn to grow vegetables. “The carrots and the spring onions have come up, it’s lovely to see it coming alive.” says Kathleen. “One elderly lady said to me, it’s so nice to look out of my window and see the kids running around. There’s lots of families with children living in high-rises here, so the plan was to get them out and doing a bit of gardening, especially in the six-week holiday.” 

A nursery backs onto the garden, and the children there can now go straight into the allotment space instead of having to walk down the road to a park. There are plans for children to paint a mural in the space, as well as for a herb garden at the front of the premises.  

The organisation is showing how much can be achieved when people are encouraged to share. “I just can’t thank the people of Bermondsey and Rotherhithe enough,” says Kathleen. “When people are down, they’re there to help them. You couldn’t ask for a better community.”  

If you're interested in donating or offering your support, or you need assistance yourself, please find the details below: 

Love North Southwark is based at 4-5 Gataker St, Slippers Place, SE16 2EN. They welcome visitors during their opening hours: 

Bermondsey Food Pantry by appointment; Monday to Friday 10am - 3pm 

Betty's Baby Bank donations accepted all week; Monday to Friday 10am - 1pm 

Betty’s Baby Bank by appointment; Wednesday 10am - 1pm 

For more information visit lovenorthsouthwark.co.uk