Adopt A Shelf

We’ve moved to a bigger space…

Our new Resource Centre is looking empty after moving, having to run stock down to make the move easier and demand on the increase again we need your help. Over the next 3 months, starting from Monday 15th June 2026 until Friday 28th August 2026 we’re inviting local businesses to support individuals and families in our local community by helping us fill our new Resource Centre.

Can Your Business Help Us Fill the Shelves?

As we head into summer, more families will struggle due to:

• Rising living costs
• Increased pressure on household budgets
• Loss of free school meals vouchers

We’re inviting local businesses to support us through our new “Adopt a Shelf Campaign”.

As part of the campaign, businesses can choose to adopt a single shelf or multiple shelves depending on the level of involvement, some shelves may be adopted by up to two business partners at a time, allowing businesses to work together to make an even greater impact for our local community.

What is “Adopt a Shelf”

By adopting a shelf, your business helps provide essential food for local residents. Your support directly translates into meals for those who need it most. This is a great opportunity to support your local community while engaging your staff in something that truly makes a difference.

What Does this Actually Mean?

A business can commits to filling (and ideally maintaining) a shelf in our new Resource Centre — either through food donations, financial support, or both for a chosen time period.

Example: “One shelf = approximately 400 items (depending on the item), the business commits to filling the adopted chosen section. For example:

£100 = fills a portion of a shelf with approx. 100 boxes of cereal to the value of £1 or under. Just 1 of our food partners can ask for 100 boxes of cereal as part of a weekly order. During March 2026 we provided the equivalent of over 1500 food parcels and each of these contain a box of cereal, meaning we need over 1500 boxes to be able to fill monthly orders, unfortunately we did not have the stock to fill all the orders, so people do go without.

How Your Business Can Get Involved 

Instead of just making a donation, we are offering for businesses to make a defined impact and create a partnership opportunity with us here at Derby Food 4 Thought Alliance.

Levels of adoption

Not all businesses can give the same amount of support, so we would like to offer different levels of adoption

1. One-Off Shelf adoption
   Donate enough to fill one shelf once – this is ideal for a smaller business
2. Monthly Shelf adoption
   Commit to refilling a shelf each month for a set time frame. This will help us with ongoing sustainability
3. Adopt a Section
   Larger businesses can fund a full shelf/pallet or multiple shelves/pallets 

What we can offer Businesses

During the adoption period we can offer:

• Recognition as a community partner
• Social media shoutouts (with photos of their shelf, shoutouts on donation days)
• Name/logo on the shelf
• Name/logo on our website, specifically on the Adopt A Shelf page
• Impact updates (you helped feed X Adults\X Children)
• Invitation to visit the Resource Centre
• Feature in newsletters
• Your very own Adoption certificate
• CSR + community impact, we can arrange for colleagues to attend to shelve stock (would have to limit numbers and pre-book dates)

How to Get Started

Step 1

Businesses sign up using  our corporate volunteering form.

Step 2

Add your Option: Also picking the item(s) you are wanting to donate:

• One-off Shelf adoption
• Monthly Shelf adoption
• Section adoption

Step 3

Ways to contribute - choose how you want to donate:

• Host a workplace food drive targeting the item(s) you have picked 
• Make a financial donation - we can calculate how much it costs to fill the chosen option
• Arrange an online supermarket delivery to our Resource Centre – we would need to discuss the details
• Take part in team volunteering days during peak times of the year

Step 4

Once you have decided on your item(s), you're set to go:

• Pick a time frame, within the dates - Monday 15th June 2026 until Friday 28th August 2026
• Share photos of your adoption on your social media
• We will update on our social media, publicly thanking for the partnership and support

Step 5

One of the DF4TA team will be in touch to go over details with you or you can contact Debbie via email; debbie@df4ta.com or call 01332 227718.

What can we donate ?

Here is a list of essential items for you to choose from. Pick your item(s) and add to the form, to be discussed when we contact you.

Ready to take part

 Download your FREE resources to help you with promoting your adoption.