Read the latest updates
June
1,736 meals sent to food banks in Birmingham
We have now sent 1,736 meals to food banks in Birmingham which have been very gratefully received.
TV presenter, Chris Packham, backs our food bank campaign
Wildlife expert and TV presenter, Chris Packham, has backed our food bank campaign. He told us: “I wish there was no need for food banks but, while there is, the Vegetarian Society’s appeal is a great way to make sure more meals are getting to more people. Veggie food boxes are a great choice – they’re filling, good for the planet and tasty. If you can give your support to the appeal, please do.”
May
Over 6,000 meals reach people using food banks in London
Over 6,000 meals were sent to five Trussell Trust food banks most in need – Norwood and Brixton, Hillingdon, North Enfield, Euston and Camden Foodbanks.
The food boxes have been really well received. One food bank told us…
“Thank you so very much to the Vegetarian Society for the food boxes donated. You guys are absolutely wonderful and we love how you are changing how society perceives vegetarian food. The boxes are a perfect example! Meals do not need meat to still be delicious and the vegetarian ragu and chilli recipes prove just that.”
1,000 food boxes ready to go out across London
With help from our partners at the Trussell Trust, we have identified five locations throughout London for the food boxes to be sent to.
Thanks to your generosity, we raised £1,588 on Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday is a global day of giving. We asked you to give towards our food boxes appeal and were delighted by the response, raising £1,588 in one day. National treasure, Stephen Fry, retweeted about the appeal!
800 more boxes delivered across Manchester
160 boxes were sent to five food banks across Greater Manchester, which were gratefully received.
Justin Moorhouse shows his support for our food boxes
More famous faces support our food box appeal, with comedian Justin Moorehouse tweeting from Burnage Foodbank.
April
Five more locations identified
The Trussell Trust has identified five locations across Greater Manchester, which are the most in need. Thanks to your donations, we have reacted to this quickly and are getting 1,360 meals to each food bank by the end of next week!
The Emergency Food Boxes reaches those in need in Crewe
We delivered 200 of our Emergency Food Boxes to those living in poverty in Crewe. Michele from Change Changing Lives, a charity that helps the homeless, vulnerable and those living in poverty, will be distributing our food boxes to those in need.
Michelle said: “Thanks so much to you and your team for putting together such an exciting box of vegetarian meals for our members in deep poverty. We will be delivering these to 200 homes over the next 2 weeks starting on Friday”
The first food boxes go out to those who need it at Central Manchester Foodbank
The first batch of 1,200 veggie meals were distributed across Manchester. Pasty from Manchester Central Foodbank was very grateful saying, “We cannot say thank you enough! Fewer people will now go hungry thanks to the generosity of those involved in the project!”
Daisy Wakefield and I Love Manchester featured the appeal
People have been being creative in ways to get involved – Illustrator Daisy Wakefield has been doing illustrations in the week of the news that have made her happy. After hearing about our Emergency Food Bank Appeal she created an amazing illustration showing our impact so far!
I Love Manchester wrote an article highlighting the impact the appeal has had in Manchester and encouraging their readers to donate.
Thank you to Daisy and I Love Manchester for your support!
The Hairy Bikers and illustrator Natalie Byrne show their support
Lots of famous faces and talented supporters, including the Hairy Bikers, and illustrator Natalie Byrne, rally behind our emergency food box appeal, helping raise more money and spread the word!
Thousands of ingredients land in the distributor’s warehouse
We sourced thousands of tins of tomatoes, hundreds of bags of pasta, palettes full of lentils and everything to go in our emergency boxes. They all arrived at the distribution centre in Telford, for them to send to food banks across the UK. We saw our veggie boxes come to life, filled with the healthy food to make eight servings of food. We knew that in only a matter of days, those in most need would be receiving these boxes!
Working with the Trussell Trust
Since the beginning we have worked directly with the Trussell Trust, a national network of food banks. Together we decided on the first location to receive the boxes, the Central Manchester Food Bank.
We are still working with the Trussell Trust and our partnership with them has been invaluable in finding food banks with the greatest need so that we can deliver our food boxes directly to them.
Two nutritious delicious meals are created by Sam, from our cookery school
Sam, the Head of the Vegetarian Society Cookery School, created recipes for two tasty and filling vegetarian meals, a Tomato and Green Lentil Ragu and a warming Bean Chilli. These meals are hearty, healthy and suitable for everybody. Recipe cards are designed to go in to the emergency food boxes.
We also emailed these recipes to the amazing people who donated to the appeal, if you donate today, you can get your hands on these two easy recipes.
Amazing corporate donations
Several amazing of our trademarked clients gave generously to our appeal, helping us get even more food boxes to people using food banks. Thank you to Bute Island, Quorn, Cauldron, Sacla Italian, Natracare, Suma, Hugli and Flo.
£30,000 donated in less than a week!
On 27 March 2020, we launched the Emergency Food Bank Appeal to send essential emergency food boxes to food banks. The generosity was incredible with your donations raising over £30,000 in under a week!