At FoodBox, we rely on referral partners identifying people in need and then connecting them to us.
Who are our referral partners?
At FoodBox, we work with over 600 individual professionals who support our local community.
These are just some of our referral partners:
London Borough of Hounslow – many teams at the Council provide referrals, including:
- Children’s Centre and Adult Services
- Community Hub (020 8583 2211 or communitysolutions@hounslow.gov.uk)
- Discretionary Local Crisis Payments
- Early Help Hub
- Families First and Intensive Support
- First Contact Team
- Homelessness, Independence and Preventive Services
- Hounslow Early Intervention Service
- Hounslow Housing, Planning and Communities
- Mental Health Support, Wellbeing and Prevention
- Wellbeing, Recovery & Placement Mental Health Team
- Addiction Recovery Community Hounslow
- Anchor Counselling
- Caridon Foundation
- Glass Door
- GP Surgeries in the London Borough of Hounslow
- Groundwork London
- Hestia Hounslow
- Hounslow and Richmond Community Healthcare NHS Trust
- Hounslow Citizens Advice – Adviceline freephone number: 0808 278 7830
- Hounslow Recovery Team – West London NHS Trust
- National Probation Service
- Riana Development Network
- Schools in the London Borough of Hounslow
- Star Centre
- St Mungo’s
- Su Mano Amiga
- Thames Reach
There are many more referral partners. If you would like to check if an organisation is registered, please get in touch.
Please contact us by email at info@hounslowfoodbox.org.uk
What do referral partners do?
Referral partners are professionals working in a wide variety of services who identify people in need.
Referral partners work in a variety of services, including housing, benefits, health, advice and support, and many other areas.
If someone would like to receive emergency food and support from FoodBox, they will need to go through our simple process, as you cannot self-refer. We require a completed referral voucher, provided by a professional referral partner who is registered with us.
Our volunteers cannot make the decision about who should receive food parcels. Our referral partners are trusted professionals who help to identify people’s needs and refer them to us. You must be living in the London Borough of Hounslow to receive emergency support from FoodBox.
Our referral partners are working in many different areas that provide help to people in need. This includes people who are job seekers, applying for universal credit and benefits, having trouble paying bills and debts, have health issues, are homeless or verging towards homelessness, parents with children struggling at school, and many more.
When someone in need of support is identified, the referral partner needs the person’s permission to complete a referral voucher, which they then pass on to FoodBox.
A FoodBox volunteer will contact the person referred to confirm their requirements and details for pick up from our community centre in Brentford or delivery. As long as we receive a completed referral voucher by 1pm, a food parcel will usually take 24 hours to prepare (except on Sundays and Mondays when we are closed), but in emergencies, we sometimes can do it the same day.
One referral voucher form is valid for one food parcel. We aim to include sufficient food for the individual and family members referred for 4 days. Each parcel needs a new voucher form filled out by the referral partner. Please note, residents may be referred to FoodBox a maximum of 8 times in a 12-month period. This is to ensure that we can continue to maintain a quality service to those who are vulnerable and need it most.
Where a person has been referred 8 times in a 12-month period, FoodBox expects the referral partner to review what other support options are available to reduce reliance on food support, and we reserve the option to decline referral requests. Typically, we expect the person, where appropriate to their needs, to be signposted in the first instance to Hounslow Connect. Additionally, the Council’s Community Solutions team is on 020 8583 2211 and can support with a wide range of early prevention and pre-crisis help. Please note that Community Solutions does not offer support where the resident already has an assigned support worker, or where the issue is specifically around their housing needs.
Once the referral voucher has been completed, the referral partner needs to send it via email to info@hounslowfoodbox.org.uk and provide a copy to the person referred.
The FoodBox Referral Charter, which sets out commitments between FoodBox and referral partners, can be downloaded from this page.
Making a referral
Through a series of simple steps, a referral partner can easily help someone in need to receive a food parcel.
If you’re already registered as a referral partner with FoodBox, you can submit referral vouchers immediately.
The referral will require information about the person or family you are concerned about, including the number of adults and children, their name, address and contact details, their dietary and allergy information, their cooking facilities and the reason why you are referring them.
If you identify any other services that you feel the person referred may need, then please detail them on your referral, as we may be able to help.
Once the referral has been made, the referral partner should provide a copy, digital or printed, to the person being referred for their reference. A referral voucher will need to be completed each time for each food parcel.
Please note, residents may be referred to FoodBox a maximum of 8 times in a 12-month period. This is to ensure that we can continue to maintain a quality service to those who are vulnerable and need it most.
If you fit the criteria, you can register to become a referral partner by emailing info@hounslowfoodbox.org.uk.
Referral Partner Survey 2023
In February 2023, we asked our referral partners to complete an online survey; all responses were confidential, and you can find the results here.
FoodBox works on a referral basis; we rely on our key partners to identify people in genuine need for us to provide emergency parcels. So it’s vital to understand their opinions about our service and whether we could improve it. In February, we asked them to complete an online survey; all responses were confidential, and you can download the results from this page.
Almost everyone in the survey said they would praise FoodBox to a colleague, giving us a score of 9.8 out of 10.colleague.’ We received a score of 9.8 out of 10. Here are some of the comments we received about our service:
“All the clients I have referred to FoodBox have been very satisfied with the items delivered and praised the volunteers.”
“The FoodBox team are amazing, supportive and friendly.”
“Volunteers are always happy to help. Clients often feel embarrassed, but staff are non-judgmental and make clients feel comfortable.”
“I am so grateful that when families are at their most vulnerable, you are there to help them so quickly and in such a dignified way.”
“Great working with your team – you really are brilliant.”
“I have been impressed by the professionalism of FoodBox volunteers, who seem to go the extra mile to help people I have referred. Please keep up the good work. I also wanted to let you know that your support for the community is much appreciated.”
Looking to the future
Sadly, almost all of our referral partners anticipate an increase in the need for emergency food support, or the same level of need as now.
On a more positive note, we are taking note of a few suggestions for how we could enhance our service over the next few months:
- working with our referral partners to reduce reliance on food parcels by raising awareness of other support services
- signposting sources of information for healthy and cheap recipes
Whatever the challenges are for 2025, we know that our volunteer community and all our supporters will be there to help us meet these challenges.
