Breakfast, dinner, tea?
Breakfast, lunch, dinner?
Breakfast, tea, tea?
Whatever our disagreements on what we call our meals, I am sure we all agree on this – nobody should be going hungry.
Nobody should be hungry. Especially since there’s so much extra food and money in the world that we never even use… Why is it that the homeless and the poorest families are left to fend for themselves when research (from the Waste & Resources Action Programme) shows that we throw away 6.6 million tonnes of household food waste a year here in the UK!
Homelessness and families struggling for food is a poison ruining the lives of thousands in the UK and we all have the antidote. If you went into your cupboard right now, could you confidently say that you will eat everything there in the next week? I know I couldn’t.
We found a solution.
A group of young people, including myself, decided to spend our half term organising and completing our own NCS social action project – hunger support.
Our project aims to shine a light on a time when all we hear about is the darkness of politics and the looming threat of coronavirus.
Raising sponsorships from the local community, members of our team completed a 6 mile walk from the Crypt to Kirkstall Abbey and back!
We have learnt about an app called Olio and are encouraging people to download it. You can easily donate food for free! This app is also a place for you to both donate physical food from your cupboards as well as people and food charities being able to collect the food they need that people like you can post about with a click of your finger!
We have recognised that the homeless and families struggling to provide meals for their children would be the ones that benefit most from our help. We have been collecting donations of food and money to donate to St George’s Crypt – a charity in the centre of Leeds right around the corner from the town hall. We have raised £270 to buy food for the food bank as well as having put together over 15 shopping bags of food donations all in the span of three days!
We have been inspired by the good will the UK has shown all banding together with a common cause. From the businesses offering meals to those affected by the recent vote to discontinue free school meals at Christmas, to food banks continuing to provide their vital service and the local constituents who are stepping up where our conservative government has failed. We all have a part to play in helping our neighbours in this world out.
As Marcus Rashford has said, let us:
“Put aside all the noise, the digs, the party politics, and let’s focus on the reality. A significant number of children are going to bed not only hungry but feeling like they do not matter”.
We do not want this support for families to end once half term is over so we need your help. Spread the word about Olio, spread the word about St George’s Crypt and, if you can, donate money and food to those who need it most as we all could lend a helping hand every now and again.
This project is well thought out and has been designed to reach as many people as possible. Although 322 MP’s voted not to feed the hungriest children, here at NCS we say:
No, we can.
This post was written by Ashur Cali
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