Rastafarian crisis support group secures building to deliver services

A Rastafari-led crisis support group has secured a building to deliver its services and says it will be moved in by Christmas.

Rastafari Movement UK Wellbeing (RMUK Wellbeing) provides culturally appropriate free hot meals, low-cost supermarket items, advice and guidance to people’s doorsteps across Lewisham, Lambeth and Southwark.

The organisation, which runs on the help of about 200 volunteers, previously worked from a single bedroom flat in Lee, but secured a five-year tenancy for a building in Boundfield Road, Downham, in August.

Stella Headley, 59, chief executive of RMUK Wellbeing, said: “We largely support people who can’t access food banks, whether that’s because of mobility issues, location or chronic health conditions.

“Downham is known as a food desert because there is such little access to food services. Where there are food banks, many only have tinned foods and do not supply halal or offer foods which are tailored to the cultures in those areas.”

The move was made possible after the national charity Action Against Hunger UK agreed to help fund RMUK Wellbeing’s renovations and provided the organisation with a solicitor to secure the new lease.

With refurbishment works already under way, the group expects to have moved part of its food distribution service into its new home by December.

The new building, which includes 10 different rooms, will also accommodate a fully equipped training kitchen for 10 week educational courses on sourcing food, cooking on a budget and setting up street food business.

The final phase of the move will see two of the rooms converted into a “mini hub” which will receive food from UK Harvest and The Felix Project to be distributed across 12 RMUK Wellbeing food projects, reaching about 3,000 individuals a week.

Lifelong Lewisham resident, Ms Headley, founded RMUK Wellbeing in 2021 as an offshoot from RMUK, which organised cultural events to raise awareness around Rastafarian communities.

Ms Headley said: “We are Rastafarites so we focus on Ital food, promoting fresh fruit and vegetables.

“We support African heritage households – not exclusively – but we recognise the inequalities these groups face because of historical and current day harm caused by structural racism.”

The group sources food from The Felix Project warehouse in Deptford, City Harvest and supermarkets including Lidle and Marks & Spencers, which offer surplus foods.

Ms Headley said: “It means we can give people food that would otherwise be in landfill – instead of the lorry travelling miles to landfill we pick it up from the warehouse.”

By signposting people in need to appropriate wellbeing and social services, Ms Headley said the group enables larger institutions and organisations to work more effectively.

She said: “We use food to bridge gaps and allow other services to reach communities they might not be able to.”

RMUK Wellbeing recruits former service users, offering them the opportunity to train as an ambassador and volunteer.

Ms Headley said: “All our volunteers and staff have experienced what our members have experienced – whether it is homelessness, domestic violence or mental and physical health struggles. 

“I have experienced a lot of these things through my life, in a way it motivates me because I know there is a service that understands my faith and could support me if I needed them.

“At the heart of what we do is dignity and belonging and having that shared experience means we can empathise with the people we help.”

RMUK Wellbeing hosts constant fundraisers and receives grants from charities and local authorities for its projects, but Ms Headley says they are still in a perpetual state of insecurity.

She said: “Our work can be overwhelming and we constantly need more staff. We need a wellbeing coordinator and paid drivers so we have reliable transport for our deliveries.

“Project funding is great but we need revenue funding – this situation is not going away.”

To donate to RMUK Wellbeing, visit: https://www.gofundme.com/f/donate-now-to-help-us-help-others?utm_source=customer&utm_medium=copy_link_all&utm_campaign=p_cp+share-she

Pictured top: Stella Headley, left, with a RMUK Wellbeing volunteer outside their new building in Downham (Picture: RMUK Wellbeing)