Posted:
Wednesday - November 23, 2022
5:57 pm
THANK YOU - YOU HELPED US TO RAISE £51,833 TO DONATE AN EXTRA 200,000 MEALS THIS CHRISTMAS
- 7 million adults in the UK are living in households where food is not available. These households include 2.6 million children.
- FareShare Midlands is raising funds to distribute 200,000 meals to families living in poverty this Christmas.
- Each £20 donated will provide 160 meals.
From 29th November to 6th December, FareShare Midlands took part in The Big Give Christmas Challenge 2022. To meet growing need, the region’s largest food redistribution charity wanted to raise £50,000, to help deliver an extra 200,000 meals to vulnerable families and individuals living in deprived communities across the Midlands.
FareShare Midlands takes surplus food that might otherwise go to waste, and redistributes it to more than 500 charities and community groups across the region. This food is a lifeline to over 67,000 local people struggling to make ends meet. 96% of these charities have seen an increase in demand since January due to the cost of living crisis, 70% are seeing new people accessing support for the first time and 87% are worried about meeting demand at Christmas.
The cost of living crisis is driving millions into food insecurity, some for the first time and others even further towards absolute poverty. Despite the Government’s claims to ‘protect the vulnerable’ this winter, for thousands of families in the Midlands, this Christmas will be the bleakest yet – children will go hungry, festivities will have to be cut back and traditions will go uncelebrated.
FareShare Midlands supports projects like the Henley Grub Hub, a weekly social supermarket offering discounted food parcels; approximately £20 worth of food for a £5 membership fee. The Hub is run by the charity Moat House Community Trust and Dianne Williams, CEO of Moat House, said “the need in the community is really wide-spread. It’s not just people on benefits, it’s not just older people or families, it’s everybody. What’s been really noticeable over the last few weeks is the number of people who’ve come here and said they’ve never had any help. We would never have started this without FareShare Midlands and we wouldn’t still be doing it without FareShare Midlands”.
Kerry, a member of Henley Grub Hub, is 39 and lives in Coventry. Kerry has three children, the youngest is 13 and the oldest is 22. Kerry’s husband is suffering with ill-health and she is his full-time carer. Kerry says “he’s had cancer for a few years, but in the pandemic we found out that it had spread to his lungs and he was stage 4 palliative care. Things were quite challenging and difficult. I first started using Grub Hub during the middle of the pandemic. I was a little apprehensive about going but everybody was really friendly and I came away feeling quite uplifted, and relieved that there’s people out there that are willing to help you. It’s difficult, but it can happen to anyone at any point. Something can happen and your whole life, it’s like a bomb’s gone off and it’s turned upside down”.
The Big Give is a registered charity and match funding platform. It specialises in bringing charities, philanthropists and the public together to multiply their impact. Each year, The Big Give runs the Christmas Challenge, an annual match funding campaign that raises millions of pounds for good causes over the course of one week.
Simone Connolly, FareShare Midlands Chief Executive said “the soaring cost of living is having a devastating effect on local charities and their communities. Donating during the Big Give week doubles the impact of a donation - we truly need people to support our Christmas Challenge and provide local families with a warm meal and some much-needed festive cheer”.
FareShare Midlands urged anyone who would like to help, and who was thinking of donating this Christmas, to donate during The Big Give Week. Doing so meant that their donation would be doubled. THE BIG GIVE CHALLENG IS NOW CLOSED:
Photo: Kerry, member of the Grub Hub
To discuss this press release please contact
Stella Broster
Communications Manager
(She/Her)
FareShare Midlands
a: Unit 7, Metro Triangle, Mount St, Nechells, Birmingham B7 5QT
m: 07510 318837
