Food4Heroes provided 230,000 meals to frontline NHS staff during the Covid-19 pandemic and now the charity is aiming to tackle food poverty by working with local caterers and foodbanks to provide nutritious meals for vulnerable families.
To Kickstart the campaign the Weetabix Food Company has donated the money to help Food4Heroes deliver meals to those in need this Christmas. Weetabix employees plan to help deliver the freshly-cooked meals themselves and local caterer Mat Norris from Portfolio Events is giving up his time to cook the meals.
Francesca Theokli, marketing director at Weetabix Food Company, said: “It’s been a really tough year for so many in the local community, and we know from our work with initiatives such as the Marcus Rashford Child Food Poverty Taskforce and FareShare that the number of families struggling to feed their children is on the up.
“We’re delighted to be supporting the heroic work that Food4Heroes are doing in our local community. I would like to offer an enormous thank you to our brilliant employees at Weetabix who have worked so hard to keep feeding the nation through the pandemic and who are now getting involved with this community effort to ensure that those who need it will get served a hot, tasty dinner on Christmas Day.”
The meals will be available for collection at Weston Favell, Kettering and Daventry foodbanks. Community organisations including churches and schools can request a meal for someone they believe is in need.
Steve Tipping, operations director for Food4Heroes, added: “We are incredibly grateful for the kind donation from Weetabix which will help to feed 1,000 people in need this Christmas.
“Due to Covid-19, there has been a dramatic rise in the number of people facing food poverty and there will be many people in our communities facing the heart-breaking choice between heating and eating.
“Food4Heroes knows the importance and huge difference a healthy, nutritious and hot meal can make to a person’s mental health and wellbeing and we know these Christmas meals will be very gratefully received by everyone who receives one.”