It isn’t right that anyone needs to use a foodbank. Sadly many in our city do, with over 2100 emergency food parcels being given out every week in Liverpool. At Feeding Liverpool we continue to campaign to end the root causes of poverty whilst ensuring people have good food at points of crisis.
Last winter we boosted over 7,700 emergency food parcels with fresh fruit and vegetables through the Winter Boost project. This Winter, Feeding Liverpool will once again be teaming up with emergency food providers in Liverpool to boost emergency food parcels with fresh fruit and vegetables, supporting the health of families in a crisis.
Starting from December 2023, we will be partnering with six of our member organisations: St Andrew’s Community Network, South Liverpool Foodbank, Micah Liverpool, New Beginnings Improving Lives CIC,L6 Community Association and The White Chapel Centre to support people in crisis this winter.
If you’d like to support The Winter Boost Project and our broader work towards Good Food For All: please give through our Christmas Appeal or contact Gentian Khan [email protected]
Hear from Cheryl and Sikarthmi about the difference The Winter Boost project makes:
Cheryl’s story
Cheryl 51, from Toxteth, is a mother of two and has four grand children. One daughter and granddaughter depend on her. Cheryl had been working as a nurse and began working as a cleaner before the pandemic to fill financial gaps. After some time, the work fizzled out and Cheryl and her family were back to square zero putting them into poverty right at the time when her daughter and granddaughter had no income.
Cheryl was reluctant to use foodbanks because it’s all tinned food, and she has multiple allergies. She uses her food as medicine. When she relies on tins she get sick really quickly.
Having fresh fruit and veg in their food parcel means Cheryl’s family are eating nutritious food and their immune systems are boosted. Cheryl says: “We need our immunities boosting during this season anyways, even without Covid, its flu season, its cold season, we need a strong system”
Sikarthmi’s story
After leaving Sri Lanka, Liverpool has been home to Sikarthmi and her five children aged 2, 5, 9, 10 and 15, for the last eight years. Since her husband left, she has struggled financially, and her spousal visa expired. Her and her family’s future feels uncertain.
Her children love the fresh fruit and vegetables they receive at the foodbank. In the evenings they will eat fresh carrots and peppers, dipping them in yoghurt.
Sikarthmi says: “The foodbank feels like a family. It is more than the food I receive, it is a place where I feel loved and accepted, giving me the strength to face the road ahead.”