Find out where your local food club is and how they can help you reduce your household spending while reducing food waste.

Food clubs help to support residents experiencing financial hardship by providing access to food and basic supplies whilst reducing the number of people needing to use emergency food banks on a long-term basis. Attempting a sustainable solution to food poverty, five food clubs have been established in the local area through the Council’s partnership with charitable food distributor, FareShare. 

These clubs are: 

Horley Food Club

Woodhatch Food Club

Redhill Food Club

Merstham Food Club

Preston and Tattenham’s Food Club  

How can I join?

If you are a resident in any of the above areas, and find yourself facing financial difficulties and you want to save on your household spending, you can self-refer yourself to the food club. You can ask to join a food club by emailing communitypartnerships@reigate-banstead.gov.uk or speak to a member of staff on your first visit to register. 

Are they free to use?

There is an annual subscription of £1 to join a club and members pay £2 each week to attend. For £2 members receive nutritious and in-date food supplied by supermarkets. The food includes dry and tinned groceries, fresh seasonal fruit and vegetables close to ‘sell by’ date. Membership allows for one household member to access food once a week, so members bring a bag and fill it up for just £2 every week. 

Food clubs are also committed to raising awareness of food wastage and all the food sourced by FareShare and supermarkets is too good to be discarded. Horley Food Club alone has prevented over 370kg of food from going to waste! Food clubs also help to promote healthy eating by home cooking and offering affordable meals, with recipes and meal plans posted on the club Facebook pages.

Food clubs keep in touch with their members and can even help with debt related issues and tackling the underlying causes of financial difficulties. The Council’s Money Support team have attended  Woodhatch Food Club to offer money advice, and SES Water visited to help those with water bill arrears and payment difficulties. The wider community, in addition to members, can attend the Money support team and SES Water sessions.  

Food club information including where to find them:

Horley Food Club

• Address: Regent House, Albert Road, Horley, RH6 7JA
• Opening times: Fridays, 12noon to 1.30pm
• Contact Number: 07854 171383
• If you are unable to access the Horley Food Club, a food parcel can be obtained from the Horley Food Bank by emailing them at horleyfoodbank@gmail.com stating the reason why attendance is not possible.

Merstham Food Club

• Address: Merstham Community Hub, 2b Portland Drive, Merstham RH1 3JB
• Opening times: Wednesdays, 12 noon to 2pm
• Contact Number: 07974325280

Redhill Food Club

• Address: Redhill Baptist Church, Hatchlands Road, Redhill RH1 6AE
• Opening times: Wednesdays, 12.45pm to 2.15pm
• Contact Number: 07974325000

Preston and Tattenham’s Food Club

• Address: St Marks Church, St Mark’s Road, Tadworth KT18 5RD
• Opening times: Fridays, 1.30pm to 3pm
• Contact Number: 07854171376

Woodhatch Food Club

• Address: Woodhatch Community Centre, Whitebeam Drive, Reigate RH2 7LS
• Opening times: Wednesdays, between 1pm and 2.15pm
• Contact number: 07974325138

Luca Difato, Operational Team Support Administrator and Communications Assistant. 16th December, 2021.