- £29,000 of joint funding will be used to support more than 40 food banks and social eating projects across Nottingham.
- Funding will enable FareShare to dramatically increase its work with local organisations ensuring more people that need support receive it.
- Food provisions will double and a dedicated food delivery infrastructure will be created as the Covid-19 crisis continues.
- Funding will also enable pre-cooked meals from Open Kitchens to be collected and delivered.
The Robin Hood Fund and Nottingham City Council have today announced a joint initiative that will see £29,000 of funding used to enable FareShare to create Nottingham’s largest ever food programme to support those most in need in the city.
£20,000 of donations to the Robin Hood Fund in addition to a further £9,000 from Nottingham City Council will be used to support more than 40 food banks and social eating projects. This will see FareShare double the volume of food provided to all organisations across the city that it already works with. The funding will also enable FareShare to support any new organisations in Nottingham seeking help.
As well as significantly increasing the volume of food available, FareShare will create a dedicated food delivery infrastructure, including vehicle and driver, to cope with the increase in food volumes. This infrastructure will also ensure that pre-cooked meals created by Open Kitchens can be collected and delivered where required.
The move to support FareShare – and the numerous organisations it works with – comes as demand for food from the most vulnerable people in Nottingham continues at an unprecedented
level and the Covid-19 crisis places a unique pressure on the ability for food banks and social eating projects to generate income in the same way.
Chair of the Robin Hood Fund, Councillor Angela Kandola of Nottingham City Council, said: “As we’ve seen throughout this crisis, the most vulnerable people in our city have been those hardest hit. This has certainly been the case when it comes to ensuring people have access to food and so the work of food banks and social eating projects has never been more important than it is right now.
“Through the incredible generosity of people supporting The Robin Hood Fund and additional financial support from Nottingham City Council we have been able to work with FareShare to provide enough funding for an unprecedented level of support. The plan will increase supply and capacity and ensure that people get the food they require over the medium term.”
The Covid-19 crisis has had a dramatic effect on food banks and social eating projects with, in essence, demand now greatly outstriping the free food offer previously in place and things having reached a critical level.
This latest funding release from the Robin Hood Fund will mean more than £60,000 of support has been distributed to organisations working with vulnerable people in the city. This will include more than £40,000 directly supporting food banks and social eating projects.
With vulnerable people across Nottingham still in need of support during this crisis The Robin Hood Fund is committed to continuing its efforts to raise funds that can help those most in need. Anybody is able to support campaign by sharing it on social media or, if they can, by donating via The Robin Hood Fund’s GoFundMe page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/3ytaf-robin-hood-fund