The Cumberland pledges £250,000 to help fight food poverty

CARLISLE, England, June 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cumberland Building Society is pledging £250,000 to help combat food poverty in its region - its largest ever donation.

It follows warnings that charities are facing a perfect storm of rising demand combined with pressures on the supply of surplus food.

Data shows that food poverty is one of the biggest concerns in Cumbria where The Cumberland is based. Research also showed:

• FareShare's 36 members in Cumbria supplied 2.4 million meals over the last 12 months
• Eighty per cent of projects saw demand increase, often significantly
• Ninety three per cent expect demand to continue rising through 2023

Now The Cumberland is determined to help tackle food poverty with its Kinder Kind of Kitchen initiative. It aims to help FareShare Lancashire and Cumbria's members invest in more food and expand provision. 

It has teamed up with the charity to focus on the issue and will be encouraging its colleagues to volunteer to support the initiative.

Cumberland chief executive Des Moore is proud to be supporting the projects.

"Kinder Kind of Kitchens is an impactful development to improve the lives of people in dire need and provide fulfilling volunteering opportunities for our people.

"Far too many people worry about getting enough food to feed their families. They can't move forward because they're thinking about where their next meal is coming from. The use of community kitchens, meal clubs and foodbanks in Cumbria has risen dramatically in 12 months. Demand is outstripping supply and there is little sign of that changing.

"By making a substantial donation, we're helping to tackle the issue head on."

Alasdair Jackson, chief executive of Recycling Lives Social Enterprise, which runs FareShare Lancashire and Cumbria yesterday visited one of those projects in Kendal - the People's Cafe - to highlight the crisis.

He said: "Covid trebled demand for foodbanks, but that was not a peak - it was a practice for the

cost of living crisis which has created even more demand.

"Now we have a situation where people are visiting foodbanks who would never have considered it before. And at the same time, there is less surplus, creating a perfect storm.

"Surplus food is harder to come by because the war in Ukraine has meant a lot of food is not

moving as it was and supermarkets are cutting back."

Media contact:
Nick Turner
+44 (0)7738 414357
nick@weareintro.co.uk

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2108293/KINDER_KIND_OF_KITCHEN.jpg