The young people who come to SOFEA are aged between 12 and 25. In every case they face one or more barriers and/or disadvantage that makes an intervention necessary for them to build a purposeful life for themselves. The SOFEA model is based on three pillars: Work Education Wellbeing Each young person gets a personalised […]
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SOFEA was founded to enable people to transform their lives meeting two needs – providing education/ employability skills training and supporting those in need through the provision of food. SOFEA, as an independent local charity, joined the FareShare network in order to access surplus food from the food industry and distribute it to other charitable […]
Introduction In your mind, picture a classroom filled with 30 pupils. Of those 30 pupils, approximately 8 of them will be eligible for Free School Meals (FSMs). However, between 3 and 4 of the students will miss out, despite coming from low-income backgrounds that would make them eligible for FSMs. Why? While an overly restrictive […]
While the cost of living crisis shows no sign of easing, vulnerable people are having to make considerable sacrifices to try and save money how and where they can. The Money Saving Expert (MSE) has assembled an extensive list of money saving techniques, and below, are some we feel SOFEA’s beneficiaries could implement during these […]
Having been a teacher with prior experience of mainstream schools, the culture of teaching at SOFEA highlighted some stark differences. Over time, SOFEA gave me the opportunity to examine my previous teaching practices, and how I could adapt them to best suit the youngsters at SOFEA. Like so many teachers before me; I tried, and […]
Last year, the cost of a 1kg bag of own-brand rice from one of the Big Four supermarkets was 45p. Today however, that same 1kg bag of rice costs £1 for 500g, marking a price increase of 344%. These findings, among many more besides, have ignited a national conversation on food prices, the cost of […]
A major new survey of more than 1,200 charities and community groups, which rely on food from FareShare to feed more than 120,000 people at risk of hunger, highlights the dramatic impact the cost of living crisis is having on the most vulnerable families across the UK. FareShare is the UK’s biggest charity fighting hunger […]
Working as part of a new initiative with SOFEA, the Terrance Higgins Trust will provide a plethora of sexual health services to 13-24 year olds through SOFEA’s Community Larder in Milton Keynes. Established in 1982, The Terrance Higgins Trust is the UK’s leading HIV and sexual health charity; and working in partnership with the Cambridge […]
SOFEA’s Community Food Members (CFMs) will receive £10,500 from Tesco stores across the UK that will be used to transport surplus food to vulnerable people throughout the SOFEA network. With special thanks to Bicester (£1,500), Banbury (£1,500), Henley (£500), Maidenhead (£500), Princes Risborough (£1,500), Oxford (£1,500), Aylesbury (£1,500), Reading (£1,500) and Windsor (£500). The purpose […]
SOFEA’s Community Food Members (CFMs) will receive £1,500 and £1,000 respectively that it will use to transport surplus food to vulnerable people in Didcot and Thatcham. The purpose of Community Food Members (CFMs) are to provide to food to community groups in Oxfordshire; such as the Didcot Foodbank, Hagbourne Primary School, as well as delivering […]
An essential aspect of the food distribution conducted by SOFEA centres around our Community Food Memberships. CFMs help us to support over 200 local community groups across the Thames Valley and South Midlands, which in turn, assist in supporting vulnerable individuals and families who are experiencing food insecurity. If you’re an organisation that helps give […]
Food Waste and the Environment When asked what the biggest contributor to climate change is, most people will conclude that the burning of fossils fuels is largely to blame. While some sectors are more responsible than others for the devastation caused to the environment, the usual candidates; energy generation, transport and international trade, aren’t always […]
On December 6th, SOFEA’s Milton Keynes site was paid a visit by the Mayor, Mohammed Khan. Following previous visits to SOFEA, Mayor Khan explained why he enjoys returning. “The demand has gone up since my last visit, there’s more students coming in here, it just shows that young people need support and help and I’m […]