Fighting food poverty in Nottingham
The Pitch
Problem statement
We have seen the impact of the very low levels of benefits and low wages in the city over the last few years. It was massively exposed during the covid lockdowns, which despite furlough meant many people in insecure work lost their incomes. Our foodbank went from feeding 40 people a week to 350 people a week. Having such massive growth very quickly meant we had to move premises to a much larger warehouse - but this meant a massive growth in our overheads to match! Nottingham City Council have recently awarded some funding to foodbanks across Nottingham to help us to continue to meet such high needs and from this, we have realised that we are the second biggest foodbank in the city.
Solution
Himmah wants to continue to develop and deliver our two main core areas of work which are about fighting food poverty. Firstly is our foodbank, which provides 4 weeks of food parcels to people in crisis. Secondly, is our Peoples Pantry/Foodprint delivery, which is a social supermarket - people pay on average £1 per kg of food, being able to choose what they want to feed their families healthy and nutricious food. The aim is to move people from the foodbank onto the social supermarkets, so they can manage on a low income and ensure their families do not go hungry. We also then provide debt management and budgeting training, alongside referrals to other support organisations and training.
Why are we best placed to deliver?
We know we are the second biggest foodbank in Nottingham City, from working with Nottingham City Council to deliver the Household Support Fund. We have a large warehouse and also have walk in fridges and freezers, which means we can provide fresh and frozen foods to people in crisis or on low income through our 2 main delivery process - foodbank and social supermarket. Our infrasturture means we can offer a much wider variety of food products including fresh produce, diary, meet and fish rather than the traditional of only providing dried and tinned products. This means we are preventing hunger but also providing a more balanced diet to people in need of our support.