Our Response to Covid-19
We have been working incredibly hard since the outbreak of Covid-19 with a dramatic increase on our services. As we continue to help our existing partners, we have received a substantial rise in requests for food from charities, vulnerable groups, and individuals. To put this into context we delivered over 50% of our normal annual tonnage of food in the first 4 weeks of lockdown!
This increase has become the new normal, delivering up to 25 tonnes of food a week or the equivalent of 75,000 meals! To keep up with demand we have increased our fleet of vans, drivers, staff and volunteers, as well as adapting to ever changing needs by increasing our online education materials.
We have moved into our new much-needed warehouse, providing the space for the continued growth, that has been vital to support the increased demand on our charity. Fully shelved, with both walk-in fridge and freezer we have maximised the produce we can store and distribute including fresh, ambient, and frozen products. This new space allows us to safely have volunteers in socially distanced and working within government guidelines.
We have delivered food to new foodbanks, set up in direct response to Covid-19, across Hampshire, Sussex and Greater London. We also expanded our services by creating and delivering crates of essential and fresh food, with matching inspirational recipe cards for healthy meals, to shielding individuals.
“The quality and quantity of the food you have passed on to us has been exceptional. It has enabled us to feed more than twice our normal number of clients. Your excellent food has contributed to the health and wellbeing of over 200 people every week. Good nutrition is an excellent way to fight this virus.”
- Recipient in BN41
Adapting our education programme to suit the need for online material we have started a new weekly Nourish Community email, containing recipes and ideas on healthy eating, how to store food, and how to use your leftovers. Check out the education tab on our website to see our new videos of the Hairy Harvesters and recipes or our live online events.
As we enter our second nationwide lockdown we are already seeing an increase in demand for our services, and to keep up with this demand we need your help! There are a few ways you can support us such as:
