Local Authority

We are a Pay As You Can Cafe – we serve breakfast, cake and lunch.

We are also home to a Freezer of Love, offering Pay as You Can frozen meals to our community.

Everyone is welcome and no one is turned away even if they have no money to pop into the pot.

Fair Shares is a local charity and community organisation that promotes the idea of being a good neighbour. We encourage people to get involved in their community, share their skills, and help each other. When you are part of the time bank, you give your time by helping with something that you’re good at, and in return you can get someone to give their time to help you. So, for example you might do a bit of gardening for someone and in return someone else might help you take that old TV to the tip. You do as much or as little as you want, helping out in ways that you are able to and most importantly with things that you enjoy doing.

Traditional time banking uses this idea to encourage members of their neighbourhood to help each other, an hour at a time – give an hour and get an hour back. Over the past 24 years our participants have taken this simple idea and ran with it. Together we have started all sorts of different groups and activities, based on the interests of the people who take part. These activities provide opportunities for people to meet up with others to learn new skills, socialise, make new friends and most of all have fun.

Community Kitchen and Pantry.

We sell coffee and groceries/cleaning/hygiene products.

We provide community space, and support building healthy networks and relieving social isolation.

Together in Matson is based at the Redwell Centre which has many fantastic facilities, Our facilities are completely accessible and include a changing space facility for all abilities.

• A sports hall
• A sensory room
• An art room,
• Social areas
• A workshop for DIY and upcycling
• A computer area
• Casual meeting areas including a mobile home and garden room.
• We have outdoor play
• A crazy golf course
• A garden amphitheatre
• A multi-use games area and lots of green space.
• A community pantry
• We even have our own mini-bus

We are a day centre for vulnerable families with preschool children in Gloucestershire.

Parents who attend The Family Haven benefit from:

• An Ofsted registered nursery for children
• Making friends and meeting people
• Healthy eating/cooking workshops
• Washing and drying machines
• Talks and information sessions
• Free second hand clothing
• Basic welfare advice
• Parenting classes
• Personal development classes
• Free Breakfast club
• Hot home-made lunch
• Day trips for the whole family

We provide emergency food parcels to local people identified by agencies as lacking the funds to buy food. Parcels are enough for 3 days and can include toiletries and baby products if needed as well as food. The food we offer is non-perishable in tins and/or packets. We are open Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays.

Our footprint covers Gloucester City and immediate surrounding areas including Brockworth, Churchdown, Longford, Twigworth, Highnam, and Hardwicke.

Our administrative centre is based in Great Western Road where we organise the packing of emergency food parcels which can be delivered or collected (by appointment only) on the days we are open.

Alternatively, we have a collection service at 2 hubs based in Gloucester Elim Church (Park End Road) open on Thursdays from 10:30am until 12:30pm and St Philip & St James Church in Hucclecote open on Wednesdays from 10am until 12 noon. Clients can sit down and chat to a volunteer over a cup of tea/coffee while their parcel is packed.

Parcels are tailored to the number of people in the household and the needs of the clients as much as possible.

In addition, The George Whitefield Centre is our warehouse and where donations are delivered, sorted and stored.

We work with over 150 agencies including but not exclusively GL Communities, Citizens Advice, CCP, local schools, housing support agencies, Social Services, Local Council, National Probation Service, Domestic Abuse Support Services and several teams within the NHS who identify and refer the individuals and families lacking the funds to purchase food to Gloucester Foodbank for emergency food parcels.

From April 2023, we will be working more closely with GL Communities to provide a Financial Inclusion service for people referred to us for emergency food with the aim to maximise their income so that they have more money in their pocket.

We are a food distribution pantry and food club

This organisation was set up in 2021 during the pandemic and is based on preventing or cutting down food waste, we have a supply chain made up from donations, FareShare, and surplus from supermarkets.

With these resources we run a food club on a Thursday and free food sessions on a Thursday and Friday morning.

The food club is £3 to join and then £1.50 once a week. For this you will receive between 7 and 10 items – which includes ambient, fresh fruit and vegetables and a mixture of pasta, rice etc. Depending on supply we also have a small supply of freezer food which is surplus from the supermarkets -if you are a regular member of the food club you will be told when this is available.