A Croydon youth centre is delivering free food parcels straight to the doorsteps of those who are struggling to support their families through the Covid-19 crisis.  

The food parcels are delivered across the borough by staff members from the Legacy Youth Zone three times a week. The food parcels contain fresh fruits and vegetables as well as dry cupboard foods. 

Myke Catterall, head of youth work, said: “The packages also offer young people a variety of different foods that they would not usually eat – for example, grapefruits, seasoned beef.”

Legacy Youth Zone is well-known across Croydon for offering children from underprivileged background educational workshops to make learning fun. However, during the coronavirus lockdown, they have worked with locals and charities such as City Harvest to provide the families of these children with supplies. 

Ian Anantharajah, a representative at Legacy Youth Zone, said: “City Harvest is an amazing organisation that collects nutritious surplus food from all segments of the food industry. This high-quality food is then delivered to organisations like us at Legacy Youth Zone to provide meals to vulnerable people including children’s programs and centres for the elderly.” 

The parcels are packaged and delivered to addresses who have contacted them directly asking for supplies. Residents interested in receiving free food parcels should be in contact with Legacy Youth Zone to arrange a slot. 

They have now helped dozens of households stay afloat while children are stuck at home and parents are unable to go to work. 

At the moment they are not accepting any temporary volunteers. However, City Harvest is looking for volunteers.