Clarion Futures, the charitable foundation of Clarion Housing Group, works with charities, social enterprises and other organisations to change lives for the better. Every year Clarion Futures supports thousands of people to access training and find work, as well as helping people manage their money, improve their digital skills and play a part in the life of their community.
Clarion Futures has been supporting UKHarvest for many years, providing funding that allows the food rescue charity to reach communities experiencing food insecurity through the redistribution of rescued food as well as offering a wealth of informative help around food and food waste management.
UKHarvest have recently welcomed representatives of Clarion Futures from around the country to their West Sussex hub in Donnington. This successful and progressive relationship with Clarion Futures is going from strength to strength. Sarah Morison, partnerships coordinator at UKHarvest said ‘We are indebted to Clarion Futures for such a positive working partnership. Through generous donations of time, money and ongoing collaborations, they have enabled UKHarvest to reach and support more people threatened by or experiencing food insecurity across the South. A huge thank you to the team at Clarion Futures, from us all at UKHarvest.’
Since UKHarvest opened their doors in 2017, Clarion Futures has been a pivotal partnership to the growing mission to ‘Nourish our Nation’. From opening the first of many community food hubs, formally pop-up pantries, at Charles Avenue Hub in Chichester through Clarion Futures’ Jane Haskins, Communities Officer in the South of England, to UKHarvest joining Clarion’s Free Playday events at Florence Road Park, Chichester, further supporting the whole community.
That is just the tip of the iceberg, and the collaboration has grown exponentially from there. Jane, on behalf of Clarion Futures, kindly said that: ‘We really value our partnership with UKHarvest. We have seen them grow from an idea with a small base and a couple of vans to a huge charitable operation, supporting residents in the community. In the Chichester district alone, UKHarvest supports Clarion residents in Chichester East, Graylingwell Park, Tangmere and Oving, along with their other community food hubs in West Sussex. They have built up an incredible logistical food distribution network, supporting national charities as well as residents facing food insecurity. We are pleased to support UKHarvest and hope we continue to do so for many years to come.’
UKHarvest received generous annual financial donations from Clarion Futures used to support the community food hubs, and 2023 sees the launch of a brand-new pilot education project, funded by Clarion Futures. This exciting venture has been created by NourishEd, the education arm of UKHarvest, entitled ‘NourishEd @ Home’. The team at NourishEd have designed, developed and created an online video-based learning platform using online videos and supportive material.
Steph Noyce, Head of Money and Digital at Clarion Futures, said: “At Clarion, we are committed to tackling food poverty and finding new ways to support our residents, so we’re delighted to be working with UKHarvest on this innovative project that will make affordable and tasty recipes easily accessible online.”
The aim of this pilot project is to enable Clarion Housing customers to develop confidence when cooking, resilience when faced with food insecurity and a chance to upskill in the kitchen. Donna Martin, Community Engagement and Events Manager at UKHarvest shared that “’It has been an exciting time in the development of our ‘NourishEd’ education strategy being generously supported by Clarion Futures Money and Digital in London with the launch of the pilot project ‘NourishEd @ Home’. Mirca Morera, Contracts & Partnerships Manager and Medina Walker, Contracts & Partnerships Officer, Clarion Futures Money and Digital, have been instrumental in guiding us to shape and fine tune the project as we progress to its launch at the end of Aug 2023.’’
