Help with food

Each dot on the map has more details about the service on offer. The map shows:

• Blue dots are open to anyone in the community
• Green dots require a referral, more information on how to get a referral below
• Orange dots are community pantries, which requires a small membership fee to use it

SHARE Wokingham

SHARE Wokingham offers fresh produce, like bread and vegetables, for those who need it. These are surplus stock from local supermarkets.

Each week SHARE helps over 2000 people in our local community who need support with food by redistributing an incredible 40 tonnes of food from local supermarkets and food suppliers that would otherwise go to waste.

Open to all, no referral needed. 

Arborfield

Royal British Legion, Eversley Road, RG2 9PR Thursdays 3.30pm to 4.30pm on the following dates:

• 21 November
• 5 and 19 December

Bracknell

St Andrews Church, Priestwood Court Road (RG42 1TU)

• Fridays, 1pm to 2.30pm

Great Hollands, The Zone, Great Hollands Square, Bracknell (RG12 8UX)

• Saturday 10am to 11.30am

Earley

Brookside Church, Earley, (RG6 7HG)

• Wednesday, 5.30pm to 6.30pm, doors open 5pm, free hot drink and cake available

Finchampstead

FBC Centre, Gorse Ride North, Finchampstead (RG40 4ES)

• Tuesday, opens at 10am  aim to arrive before 10am for the best choice of food

Shinfield

Shinfield Community Church, 1 Fairmead Road, Shinfield (RG2 9DL)

• Monday, 12.30pm  to 1.30pm, free cafe until 2pm

South Ascot

All Soul’s Church, All Souls’ Rd, Ascot (SL5 9EA)

• Friday, tea and coffee from 12.15pm, foodbank open 1pm to 2pm

Sunningdale

Hope Church, The Hope Centre, High Street (SL5 0NG), next to Nag’s Head Pub

• Tuesday, 12noon to 1pm, tea/coffee from 11:15am

Winnersh

Rainbow Centre, Rainbow Park (RG41 5SG)

• Wednesday, 1pm to 2pm, park in Centre Car Park

Wokingham

Norreys Church, Norreys Avenue (RG40 1UU)

• Friday, 12.30pm to 2.30pm

The Well at King’s Church, 9 Station Road (RG40 2AD)

• Wednesday, 11am to 3pm

Woodley

Emmanuel Church Centre, Southlake Crescent (RG5 3QW)

• Monday, 3.30pm to 4.30pm

Foodbanks

These provide emergency food and support to people locally. You'll usually need a referral.

• Wokingham Foodbank – providing support to people across Wokingham borough and beyond
• Woodley Foodbank – open to all in and around Woodley daily
• Crowthorne Foodbank – open to all in and around Crowthorne, including Wokingham Without and Finchampstead
• Nomad Foodbank, Henley - open to residents in Remenham, Wargrave and Crazies Hill

Lunch clubs are run in different parts of the area at certain times:

• Woodley Lunch Bunch – school holidays support for low income families
• Wokingham Grub Club - school holidays support for low income families
• Link Visiting Scheme Community Kitchen – monthly meal for service users

If you use the Salvation Army or Kaleidoscopic UK locally, they can also help with food. To see all these resources in one place, see our directory.

Apps for end of day food

• Try the OLIO app, which connects neighbours with each other and with local businesses so surplus food can be shared, not thrown away
• Try the Too Good to Go app, Surprise Bags of food from local restaurants, grocery stores, cafés, and shops. Stops it going to waste if it hasn't been sold

Referrals

Accessing lots of these services needs a referral.

You can get a referral from our teams who you may work with already such as housing teams, social workers, children’s services or benefits.

You can also get referrals from your child’s school and local charities or voluntary groups you already work with.

Citizens Advice Wokingham may also be able to provide a referral. Call 0808 278 7958, Monday to Friday. 

Community pantries

Community pantries provide help through a membership scheme. You pay a small fee and get items up to a set value. For example you could pay a £5 weekly fee to access £30 of items.

Roots Community Store

Roots Community Store opened as a pilot in February 2024. It's now supporting dozens of households in the borough.

It provides fresh foods, canned/dried goods and other household essentials. It will create new and innovative ways for residents to access low cost, healthy food. 

St Barnabas Pantry

The St Barnabas Pantry is now open every Thursday from 1pm to 4pm at Reading Gateway Church, in partnership with Your Local Pantry. A coffee morning runs before from 11am to 1pm.

Members can pay for a £5 weekly shop, saving £15 to £20 on the items you’ll get.

To be a member you must live within two miles of the site (RG6 5TS), not be registered to another Your Local Pantry site and must be on a low income, receive benefits, or be 'just about managing' your income.

You can register online to become a member or visit on a Thursday and to complete a membership form.