additional support IN HACKNEY
LOCAL PLACES TO GET FREE OR CHEAP FOOD
This list includes a range of local places that offer regular meals and/or food parcels. These time can vary so please call up these organisations before visiting to check their offer is still available.
You can find this and other lists here.
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MONDAY
Wordsworth’s Community Café
St Matthias Hall, Wordsworth Road, N16 8DD
Soup and bread, cake and hot snacks
11am - 2pm
Pay as you feel
North London Action for the Homeless
St Paul’s Church, Stoke Newington Road, N16 7UE
Free vegetarian meal as well as advocacy, clothes, showers, laundry and haircuts. 12pm - 1.30pm
Woodberry Down Community Fridge
Redmond Community Centre, Kayani Avenue, Woodberry Down N4 2HF
12pm onwards
Choose fruit and veg to fill one shopping bag.
Humdingers Soup Kitchen
238 Hoxton Street, N1 5LX
5pm - 7pm Free hot meal
Jago Community Foodbank
440 Kingsland Road, E8 4AA
11am-4pm.
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TUESDAY
Stoke Newington SDA Church
15-17 Yoakley Road, N16 0BD
12.30pm - 2pm Community kitchen (alternate Tuesdays)
St John’s Soup Kitchen and Foodbank
2A Gloucester Drive, N4 2LW (on corner of Queen’s Drive)
Hot meal to take away and food parcel 6.30pm - 8pm
Gascoyne 1 Lunch Club
Gascoyne Road, Hackney Wick, E9 7FA.
Lunch served 1pm-2pm (doors open 11.30am for tea and coffee).
Idia’s Community Kitchen
Bootstrap Charity, 18 Ashwin Street, E83D
7pm-8pm
Free hot meals
Mildmay Community Centre
Woodville Road, Mayville Estate, N16 8NA.
Soup and Stew. Pay what you can. 12.30pm-2pm from November 4th 2025.
Idia’s Community Kitchen
Ridley Road Market E8 2NP
7.30pm - 9.30pm Free hot meals
Humdingers Soup Kitchen
238 Hoxton Street, N1 5LX
5pm - 7pm Hot meal
St Mark’s Church
Colvestone Crescent, E8 2NL (side entrance)
Drop-in food aid 10.30am - 12pm
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WEDNESDAY
Chatsworth Road Food Hub
Clapton Park Methodist Church, 99 Chatsworth Road, E5 0LH
Free food parcels. No need for a voucher, just walk in
11am - 2pm
North London Action for the Homeless, St Paul’s Church, Stoke Newington Road, N16 7UE
Free vegetarian meal as well as advocacy, clothes, showers, laundry and haircuts. 6pm-7.30pm,
Shoreditch Trust,
St Anne’s Church, 37 Hemsworth St, N1 5LF. Free vegetarian lunch (12pm-12.30pm).
St Peter’s Church,
Northchurch Terrace, N1 4DA (De Beauvoir area).
Soup and bread (12pm-4.30pm)
Gascoyne 2 Lunch Club
Gascoyne 2 Hall, Wick Road, E9 5AY.
Lunch served at 12pm
The Little Things
235 Old Street (next to the fire station), EC1V 9EY
Hot meal, snacks, hot and cold drinks as well as clothes and toiletries.
6.30pm onwards
Lighthouse Café
St Barnabus Church, Homerton High St, E9 6DL. 2pm-3.30pm
Lighthouse Lunches
Hackney Church House, Homerton Terrace E9 6RT
12pm-2pm (NHS community social prescribers last Wed of the month)
Humdingers Soup Kitchen
238 Hoxton Street, N1 5LX
5pm - 7pm Free hot meal
Harvesters Soup Kitchen
217/223 Kingsland Road London E2 8AN
1pm - 2pm Sandwiches
Idia’s Community Kitchen
74 Kingsland High Street E8 2NS
7pm-8pm.
Free hot food.
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THURSDAY
Foodcycle
New Kingshold Community Centre, 49 Ainsworth Road, E9 7LP
Free hot meal 12.30pm
AMURT
The Greenhouse GP surgery, 19 Tudor Rd E9 7SN (London Fields)
Free vegetarian meals – from 1.30pm
AMURT
E1 Homeless Medical Centre
9-11 Brick Lane (Shoreditch)
From 1.30pm
Vegetarian Meals
AMURT
Outside Food For All health shop
3a Cazenove Road, N16 6PA
From 12.30pm and again from 5.30pm
Hot vegetarian meals and fresh vegetables.
Children with Voices/ Community Food Hub
De Beauvoir Meeting Room, 85 Downham Road N1 5TR
Fresh fruit and vegetables and food cupboard essentials for £3 (single person) or £5 (family)
12pm - 2pm
Harvesters Kitchen
217/223 Kingsland Road London E2 8AN
1pm - 2pm Sandwiches
Hackney Streets Kitchen
Outside Hackney Central Library (25 Hackney Grove, E8 3NR
Free food at 8pm
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FRIDAY
Idia’s Community Kitchen
Stoke Newington Baptist Church, N16 8BU.
Free hot food
7pm-8pm
2nd Chance Café
St Mary’s Centre, Stoke Newington Church Street, N16 9ES
Soup and cakes. Pay as you feel.
11am - 2pm
Carib Eats Canteen
115 Dalston Lane Community Centre, Lewis Place E8 1NU
Hot meals for £5
12pm - 3pm
Open Door Community Kitchen
Our Lady and St Joseph’s Church, 100 Balls Pond Road N1 4AG
Free hot meal
Opens 4.30pm, food served from 5.15pm
Hackney and Dalston Streets Kitchen
Ridley Road Market, opposite Dalston Kingsland Station.
Hot food and drinks 8pm
Humdingers
238 Hoxton Street, N1 5LX
5pm - 7pm Free hot meal
Mildmay Community Centre Co-op
Woodville Road, Mayville Estate, N16 8NA
Food parcels to local residents for a fee of £1 per person per week. Call 020 7249 8286 or email mildmaycp@gmail.com to register. If you are homeless or have no recourse to public funds, the service is free. October to April 11.30am-1pm.
Harvesters Kitchen
217/223 Kingsland Road London E2 8AN
1pm - 2pm Sandwiches
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SATURDAY
Idia’s Community Kitchen
Fresh and Fruity, 151 Stamford Hill N16 5LG.
Free hot meals
10am-11am
Hackney Streets Kitchen
St John’s Churchway, opposite Marks and Spencer
Hot/cold food and drinks and bedding and clothes when available
8pm
Harvesters Soup Kitchen
217/223 Kingsland Road London E2 8AN
1pm - 2pm Sandwiches and Foodbank
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SUNDAY
Idia’s Community Kitchen
Ridley Road Market E8 2NP
2pm - 3pm Free hot meals
St John’s Soup Kitchen and Foodbank
St John’s Church, 2A Gloucester Drive (on corner of Queen’s Drive) N4 2LW
12pm - 2pm
Hot meal to take away and food parcel
Urban Table
Round Chapel, 2 Powerscroft Road E5 0PU
1.30pm - 3pm Hot meal
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EVERY DAY
Irie Walk in Crisis Café
The Raybould Centre, City and Hackney Centre for Mental Health, Homerton Row, E9 6SR.
Open 6pm-9pm Monday to Friday or 12pm-4pm Saturday and Sunday.
Whitechapel Mission
212 Whitechapel Road E1 1BJ
Breakfast served Monday to Friday 8am-10am
Hot Line Meals
Deliver home-cooked kosher meals to those in need, living in E5, N4, N15 or N16
For more information call 020 8806 1541
Carib Eats
Deliver Caribbean home-cooked food. You need to fill in a referral form at www.caribeats.org/contact-us
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FREE SCHOOL MEALS
See website for information about eligibility for free school nursery and secondary school meals or if you have no recourse to public funds.
https://education.hackney.gov.uk/content/apply-free-school-meals -
HACKNEY LUNCH CLUBS
Nutritious two-course meals for people aged 55+ at affordable prices (£5 and under)
East and South East Asian Community Centre (Mon/Wed/Fri)
Hackney Caribbean Elderly Association (Tues/Wed/Thurs)
Chats Lunch Club (Thurs)
Hackney Cypriot Association (Tues-Fri)
Hot Line Meals Club (Jewish/Kosher) (Sun-Thurs)
Halkevi (Turkish/Kurdish) (Mon and Wed)
Lunch Up Woodberry Down Lunch Club (Tues)
Holly Street Lunch Club (Tues-Thurs)
Nightingale Lunch Club (Mon-Fri)
North London Muslim Community Centre (Tues and Wed)
Centre 151-VLC Pho Club (Wed and Sat)
Visit the website for times, days and costs or call 020 7923 1962, extension 8184
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NHS HEALTHY START
If you are more than 10 weeks pregnant or have children under the age of 4 and you are on benefits you could qualify for fa pre-paid Healthy Start card to use in some shops. If you are under 18 and more than 10 weeks pregnant. You can apply online or email healthy.start@nhsbsa.nhs.uk or call 0300 330 7010
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PET FOOD
Mildmay Pet Food Bank
Mildmay Community Centre, Woodville Road, Mayville Estate, N16 8NA.
Tuesday and Thursday 10am-1pm
Leonard’s Lunchbox
The Parish Rooms at St Matthew’s Church (Hereford Street entrance), St Matthew’s Row, Bethnal Green E2 6DT
Tea and coffee; food for cats and dogs
Thursdays 6.30pm - 7.30pm
RSPCA
Register of local pet foodbanks at
https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/costofliving/foodbank -
ROSE VOUCHERS FOR FRUIT AND VEG
Fresh fruit and veg vouchers are given out at nine children’s centres in Hackney to spend at selected shops and markets, including Ridley Road. More information and locations are on the website.
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RSPCA
See register of local pet foodbanks
https://www.rspca.org.uk/adviceandwelfare/costofliving/foodbank