Reducing food poverty in East London

The Pitch

Problem statement

Our community has been significantly impacted by Covid-19 because we primarily work with those who suffer from health inequalities such as the elderly, those in recovery and many more. We started our community meal service knowing that our community would be impacted by Covid-19. Feedback has shown that for >80% of them the food has been critical, 26% have had their income negatively affected by Covid-19, with a further 33% unemployed. Food insecurity was already a growing issue prior to Covid-19. A recent Living Wage Foundation report showed that 27% of full-time workers earning below the Real Living Wage skipped meals regularly for financial reasons during the pandemic.

Solution

We will prepare, cook and deliver 6 vital, nutritious meals for 150-200 people per week across Hackney (~1200 meals/week). From information gathered through welfare phone calls, we know this is needed as our meals are critical to our beneficiaries, the majority of which are elderly or suffering economic hardship. Through this work we will ensure that the likelihood of food poverty and hunger is reduced, in particular as the longer economic impact of Covid-19, inflation and other cuts are realised. We also aim to rebuild our community’s resilience through the provision of regular, healthy, nutritious meals. This gives people and families space to recover and rebuild.

Why are we best placed to deliver?

We were one of the first community food responses to Covid-19 in Hackney in March 2020. Since then we have prepared and delivered nearly 100,000 meals to the community to increase access to regular, nutritious meals for those in need. We built a team of trained chefs and skilled volunteers that are experienced in preparing diverse, culturally appropriate meals that meet the needs of our community. We have developed partnerships with hundreds of groups across East London to not only ensure our meals reach those in need, but also to build links for greater food redistribution (eg. surplus food). We hold welfare calls every 3-4 months to ensure our service can be continually improved.

Focus Areas

Delivery plan

Budget breakdown

Beneficiaries

200 people

Expected impact

200 people receiving meals will have: Increased access to regular cooked meals. Decreased likelihood of food poverty and slipping through the net.Improved health and wellbeing.Increased sense of community support.In additional our kitchen volunteers that support the community meals will have:Increased skills and employability.Increased sense of community connectedness.Improved mental wellbeing.

Track record

They [the meals] are so nourishing. Nutritious and delicious. There’s not one meal that’s the same and not one meal I haven’t enjoyed. Volunteers are lovely, everybody has nice words and nice smiles. It’s frightening to go to the supermarket and it keeps me safe. It’s made me feel so much better, I’m not eating rubbish anymore.

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