Good Company (Surrey)

Who we are

Good Company (Surrey) is a charity that works to prevent and alleviate poverty. Our mission is to lead our community towards a poverty-free future, while supporting those who need our help. 

Our projects include:

·         Epsom and Ewell Foodbank, which provides emergency food, support and advice to people and families who are experiencing severe financial hardship. As well as foodbank centres in Epsom and Ewell, it also runs in Leatherhead, Banstead and Tadworth.

·         Support Work, with a team of support workers that can offer advice, advocate and provide consistent support to help people to identify and work through the difficult situations they face. The support work team also provide practical support.

·         Epsom and Ewell Refugee Network, supporting refugees and asylum seekers in the local area.

·         East Surrey Poverty Truth Commission, who has brought together a group of Community Commissioners who have used the Foodbank or Pantry with a group of Civic & Business Commissioners from local organisations who are responsible for making decisions that affect people in poverty.

·         Epsom and Banstead Pantries are community-focused food shops run by and for their members. They seek to create an environment that empowers and supports individuals and families by strengthening their financial and emotional resilience.

We must continue to support people in crisis by meeting their immediate needs. But we also want to address the root causes of poverty, by raising awareness and understanding of poverty in the local area. We are working to change culture and challenge the policies and practices of local organisations that keep or push people into poverty.

Addressing root causes as well as immediate need

We are committed to working with local councils, schools, landlords and businesses, alongside people with lived experience of poverty, making them central to decisions about how to tackle it.

We refuse to accept that poverty is just a sad reality. Leading our community towards a poverty-free future is about creating hope that change is possible and refusing to succumb to the belief that poverty will always exist.

Our culture and values

We demonstrate our values by being compassionate, kind, trusting, engaged, non- judgemental and resourcing.

Our strategy is outworked through our 3 values:

Compassion: Ensuring everyone experiencing financial hardship is trated with kindness and dignity

Justice: Challenging unfair systems and attitudes that keep people in financial hardship

Hope: Strengthening community support networks and building resilience