Over 56,000 meals are heading to communities across the North-East as part of the Vegetarian Society’s Food Box scheme, thanks to funding from Barclays Community Aid package. The Vegetarian Society Food Box scheme gets food onto people’s tables, and started in response to the impact of Covid-19. Thanks to the generosity of donors, the Vegetarian Society has already provided over 22,000 meals to people across the UK.

Each of the Vegetarian Society Food Boxes contains the ingredients and recipes to provide people with eight meals. One person who received a food box said: “We were really excited to receive the box. It felt like a gift as everything had been thought of, down to little packets of salt and pepper.”

Lynne Elliot, Chief Executive of the Vegetarian Society, said: “The Vegetarian Society Food Boxes are needed now more than ever. We have had feedback from people saying they the boxes made them feel cared for and looked after. We’d like to thank Barclays for funding our Food Box scheme to get 56,000 meals onto tables across the North-East of England. This funding allows us to focus support in a specific area so we can carry on fundraising to get help to other areas too. Not only do the boxes give people filling-meals, it also introduces them to cheaper, nutritious recipes that you can make again and again.”

Karen Swainston, Barclays Head of Corporate Relations in the North East, said: “This crisis has had an unprecedented impact across the UK and we know this is an incredibly challenging time for many in the North East. By reaching those most in need of support, charities, such as the Vegetarian Society, have played a vital role in this crisis to date, and no doubt they will do going forward. As a proud member of our community, we are doing everything we can for our customers, clients and colleagues. We hope our partnership with the Vegetarian Society will allow many others to access the help they need as this crisis develops.”

In April 2020, Barclays announced a £100m Community Aid Package to support charities that are helping people and communities most impacted by Covid-19. The Vegetarian Society are delighted to be one of Barclays’ UK charity partners, chosen for meaningful work it is doing with food boxes to feed people across the community.

The Vegetarian Society is a charity and the place to go for everything you want to know about the world of vegetarian food. The Food Box scheme is part of the work of the Vegetarian Society. Other work includes National Vegetarian Week (10 – 16 May 2021).

Notes to editors 

• For media enquiries please contact Su Taylor at the Vegetarian Society on 0161 925 2012 or su@vegsoc.org
• Each box contains the ingredients and recipes for two nutritious, filling, vegan meals/dishes, which provide people with eight meals/servings of food. With many people losing their jobs or being paid less, the amount of people needing to use food banks has increased dramatically. The Vegetarian Society is helping to tackle this problem by sending out food boxes.
• Boxes are being distributed through Trussell Trust Food Banks