COVID-19

Children of Adam responded quickly to the coronavirus pandemic. The lockdown has impacted our most vulnerable in many ways. Not only have we seen an increase in the number of guests, but also a reduction in the services offered to them.

Despite the challenges that the pandemic created, we are proud to say that to date, we have not missed a single Sunday since we launched in 2011.

To be able to serve our community, we have put in place numerous measures to ensure the safety of our guests and volunteers:

  • All volunteers must wear face masks and gloves
  • Volunteer numbers have been reduced to the minimum number necessary for operations, this is to ensure social distancing
  • Only 2 volunteers operate at each 6-foot table
  • Guests receive tickets demarking their position in the queue so they do not have to line up or congregate to await their turn
  • All food items are pre-wrapped before delivery (including each and every pizza slice) so reducing the risk of contamination
  • We have slowed our system down, we used to be able to distribute donations to our guests in 20-30 mins but are now doing so in twice that time to ensure social distancing at each table and not to overcrowd the distribution area

Partnering up with our sister organisation, Hand on Heart, we have been able to distribute essential packages to our guests, including socks, underwear and toiletries. The government has stressed the need to ensure hygiene standards are maintained in order to combat the virus, however – during lockdown and as a result of it – many of our guests have been unable to access washing facilities and laundry services. The packs distributed help them feel fresh, and enable them to uphold vital hygiene standards.

As challenging as the pandemic has been, we have also been fortunate enough to bring on board Waitrose and Partners and Tesco, enabling us to provide our guests with more food.

We hope to continue our vital work for as long as we are needed, even if another lockdown comes into force in London.

Thank you to everyone who has made our work possible, donors and volunteers, so many more guests are telling us each week how grateful they are that we are still supporting them and how much more they are relying on our service.