New Community Centre

The new 3Food4U Community Centre at 47 Highbridge Street Waltham Abbey EN9 1BD is available to frontline agencies, charities, and community groups for FREE to deliver health, wellbeing and educational activities/sessions for free or subsidised to the public. It has a large open space with folding tables/chairs for 50 people, small kitchen and disabled access toilet.

What's On

Our community surplus hubs offering free food, home essentials and clothes for anyone in need without an assessment or referral

We’re very pleased to announce the launch of 3SocialMemoryCafe4U a new FREE monthly community service open to anyone who would like to socialise.

We’re offering FREE NHS Health Checks, Blood Pressure and BMI checks to people who aren’t eligible for an NHS Health Check.

We support people in the community and at work with a range of health, wellbeing and day-to-day needs.

Job Club. We can support with: CVs, Application Forms, Interview Preparation, Basic Computer Skills and more.

FREE online training courses to build confidence and ability to work with numbers in everyday practical situations.


Over 2000 families
(4500 individuals)
supported per week


279,000 meals provided in 2023


18,910 people fed in 2023


2,350 tonnes of surplus food saved in 2023


56% increase
on the previous year

Treating people humanely with dignity and respect

Donate Now

iNews National press - read the article

Read about Michelle's experience

See what happened when Heart/LBC Radio came to see us!

Our community surplus hubs offering free food, home essentials and clothes for anyone in need without an assessment or referral

3,225

3Food4U

Multi-award winning charity
providing free food, home essentials and clothing to anyone in need, without the requirement for assessment or referral. Committed to treating everyone with dignity & respect.
To donate
https://localgiving.org/charity/3food4u

3Food4U

3 days ago

Great day at Epping's Big Lunch at Quaker House organised by Epping for Everyone and in partnership with 3Food4U Kinder Essex Epping. Huge thanks to them for organising food donations for us 🙏🏾 ... See MoreSee Less

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3Food4U

3 days ago

Come down to Upshire school and join us at the opening of the Fledgling Train carriage and summer fate. Lots of excellent stalls to brows including our 3food4u tombola and community shop 🎉Waltham AbbeyAndrew crowley independent funeral director ... See MoreSee Less

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3Food4U

4 days ago

🌟 EPPING COMMUNITY HUB – ONE MONTH ON! 🌟Just over a month since opening our new Epping Community Hub, we wanted to share a quick update and say a huge THANK YOU to everyone who has helped make it such a success.Firstly, thank you to all of our incredible volunteers. Your support, enthusiasm and commitment are helping us build something truly special for the community. We have recruited more than 10 new volunteers in recent weeks, with several more due to start shortly.A special thank you goes to Anita, Leva, Arthur, Geoff, Sharron, Emma, Carol and Samantha, who have been instrumental in running our Friday Surplus Food Hub. We are already supporting nearly 40 families every week, ensuring good food reaches those who need it most.Our Charity Shop and Community Supermarket have been nothing short of a revelation. Thanks to Suzan & Sarah and to the fantastic support from local residents and volunteers, we have reached our break-even point after just one month and are already covering our main overhead – the rent. This is an incredible achievement and gives us confidence for the future sustainability of the Hub.A special mention must also go to Sarah Bennett who has worked tirelessly networking, promoting and raising awareness of the Centre and everything we offer. Her hard work is paying real dividends and helping us reach more people every day.Wednesday 8th July – 10am–3pm Public Open Day – come along, see what we do and help spread the word.Finally, we are looking for more regular volunteers, particularly on Saturdays. Whether you can spare a few hours each week or more, we would love to hear from you.Together we are creating a welcoming community space that supports local people, reduces waste and treats everyone with dignity and respect.If you'd like to get involved, please get in touch!Epping Forest District Council Epping Forest Guardian Epping for Everyone Find Your Active - West Essex Waltham Abbey Town Council Voluntary Action Epping Forest Honey Lane Care Home ACE Activities - project of VAEF Abbey Performing Arts Waltham Abbey Keep It Local Waltham Abbey Essex Community Foundation Essex County Council Essex Police - Epping Forest District Epping Town FC Essex Association of Local Councils Epping at the Movies Epping Forest & Harlow Community Transport Essex ActivAte ... See MoreSee Less

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3Food4U

5 days ago

🌟 What a fantastic half-term! 🌟We’re proud to see our 3Food4U Round-Up featured, highlighting the fun, creativity, and confidence-building experiences enjoyed by local children during our Holiday Activities and Food programme. Thank you to our amazing volunteers, partners, and supporters who helped make these magical moments possible. ❤️#3Food4U #CommunitySupport #HalfTermFun #MakingADifference #EssexFamilies #HAFProgrammeEpping Forest District CouncilEpping Forest GuardianDennis & Dyer Boxing AcademyAbbey Performing ArtsHoney Lane Care Home ... See MoreSee Less

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3Food4U

7 days ago

Please support our local friendly community cinema. ... See MoreSee Less

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Our Hub Locations

Waltham Abbey

Monday & Friday 11:00am to 1:00pm

13 Sun Street, Waltham Abbey, EN9 1ER

Loughton

Tuesday 11:00am to 1:00pm

Loughton Club, 8 Station Road, IG10 4NX

Tottenham SDA

Tuesday 3:30pm to 5:00pm

Saturday 3:30pm to 5:00pm

235-255 W Green Rd, London N15 5EG

Chigwell Row

Wednesday 4:45pm to 6:00pm

All Saints Church Hall, Romford Road, Chigwell Row, IG7 4QD

Chipping Ongar

Thursday 1:00pm to 2:30pm

Budworth Hall, 205 High Road,
Chipping Ongar. CM5 9JG

Bruce Grove

Sunday 12:00pm to 2:00pm

RCCG

454A High Road Bruce Grove, London N17 9JD

3Social&WarmPlaces4U

1st Monday of the month

3:30pm to 5:30pm

All Saints Church Hall
Romford Rd, Chigwell Row, Chigwell IG7 4QD

3rd Wednesday of the month

10:00am to 12:00pm

St James’ Church Hall, Ongar CM5 9EL

2nd Thursday of the month
2:00pm to 4:00pm

Loughton Club, 8 Station Road IG10 4NX

Last Fri of the month

2:30pm to 4:30pm

Waltham Abbey Baptist Church, Paradise Road, EN9 1RL

Free NHS Health Check

1st Tuesday of the month

10-2pm Loughton Hub

1st Thursday of the month

11-3pm Ongar Hub

2nd Mon & Fri of the month

10-1pm Waltham Abbey Hub

Job Club

Every Tuesday

11-12:30pm Loughton Hub

How You Can Help

Donate food

We are always looking for non-perishable food donations

Volunteer

3food4u is run entirely by volunteers. Can you join our team?

Fundraising

To donate visit our fundraising page
DONATE

SHARE

If you know someone in need, or know someone who can help, please share us

About us

Run entirely by volunteers we are charity community hub that provides basic groceries and essentials to those in need. Treating people humanely with dignity and respect without the need for assessment or referral.

Phone

01992 842 642

Mobile / Whatsapp

07973 166940

Charity No.

1192310

EMail

[email protected]

Make A Real Change In Someone’s Life

Donate, Volunteer, Spread the word. Join us on this incredible journey to treat people humanely with the dignity and respect that everyone deserves.

"Thank you again for the help it was really great."

Ms M

"Really friendly welcoming staff. Very helpful, great with kids. Fantastic options even at the end of the day. No judgement."

Mrs K

"First time I've done this...bit apprehensive. Thought it was made painless by friendly attitude of staff."

Mr J

"This place is amazing, best emergency food support I've visited.'"

Ms L

"Fantastic resource set up locally in Waltham Abbey - food to all without question ! amazing job x"

Tracey

"Well done on all your hard work and we are pleased we could support you."

Essex Community Foundation

"You guys are all amazing at 3food4u, so welcoming and kind."

R.J.N.

"Thank you all for your kind work that you do God bless you all "

V.T.

"Incredible facility you provide"

M.S.

"You all do an amazing job"

M.D.

"Always love visiting with my son and daughter! The people are so welcoming , and the guy who I spoke to today was really funny!"

J.R.

"We are please that Loughton Town Council has been able to support your project "

Loughton Town Council

"...the fact u never feel shamed or embarrassed to attend and always welcome no matter who u are is a nice feeling"

K.D.

Please Donate

We received this message at 23.24pm on Wed 7th April from Michelle, which we replied immediately.

Michelle: Hi we are on benefits & we have a autistic adult son, we are finding it really hard at the moment, I was wondering if we are able to get help with food & clothes.

3food4u: Hello Michelle, I’m so sorry to hear about your situation. You are very welcome to come to any one of our hubs, you don’t need any ID or proof, and take whatever you need. It’s all very easy just like going shopping. Come early as there are queues.

Michelle: I’ve got to take my mum for her covid injection today, so was hoping to go to you tomorrow, I’m very nervous. But I saw on Facebook how lovely & friendly the people are & the people make you very welcome x

Michelle visited us on Friday, this is her experience after.

“I’ve used food banks before but never felt comfortable but when I went to your food bank everyone was so friendly and helpful. I would highly recommend you to anyone who’s struggling right now. What made it more special was the personal touch and none of the volunteers were judgemental as it seems to be from other food banks. I thoroughly enjoyed my experience with everyone at the Waltham Abbey branch so I’d just like to say thank you to everyone involved.”

Michelle