Luton Foodbank's extra help from wellbeing hub

Luton Foodbank is always in need of donations to support the local community and July sees a higher demand and lower donation levels than other months.

The Wellbeing Hub (formerly the Old Post Office), next to Lidl in the Mall, is a collaborative project which opened in November 2021 and has helped Luton residents receive their doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. In Luton alone, more than 375,000 doses have been delivered.

The site had a relaunch as the Wellbeing Hub in May 2022 and now not only provides the opportunity for residents to get the vaccine easily, but also offers a range of wellbeing services. These include health checks from the innovative SiSu health check machine, which is free for all residents.

The Wellbeing Hub is also able to offer support with healthy lives services such as support to quit smoking and a childhood immunisation service, offering the MMR (measles mumps and rubella) jabs.

Sally Cartwright, public health director at Luton Council, said: “We are so fortunate to have this facility right in the heart of Luton and we want the hub to become a place where residents can come and talk about a whole range of health questions and of course have their free health check and Covid vaccine if they still have not had it. We also wanted to support the foodbank as they do an incredible job in Luton and also the Mall to help them celebrate their 50 year anniversary.”

Craig Lister, the Covid and Flu immunisation and vaccination strategy lead from NHS Bedfordshire, Luton and Milton Keynes Integrated Care Board, said: “Local residents often tell us one of their key requests is the provision of care closer to home. By creating the Luton Wellbeing Hub, with the support of our local partners, we can offer our residents the means to get a range of services right on the doorstep. The location within the Luton Mall means that they can access a number of local offers at the same time as accessing their health and care needs. This collaboration with Luton Foodbank and Luton Mall is exactly the type of community service we envisaged when coming up with the Luton Wellbeing Hub and we are pleased to be able to support them during their half century anniversary.”

Roy Greening, general manager at The Mall Luton, said: “We are delighted to be working with the Wellbeing Hub, and grateful that they are supporting us with one of our many charity initiatives this summer as we celebrate 50 years of supporting our local community.”

Being part of this important initiative is part of the Hub’s commitment to the local community and wanting to recognise the phenomenal work that Luton Foodbank does, as well as being able to support Luton Mall with their campaign of donating 50 items each day in July.

The Luton Wellbeing Hub is located next to Lidl and is open for walk-in vaccinations so why not visit and take a look around?

For more details on opening times and COVID-19 information go to: blmkhealthandcarepartnership.org/covid-19/vaccination-appointments-walk-in-sessions-and-information