On Wednesday November 17th plant-based community cookery school and charity Made In Hackney went live with an ambitious crowdfunding campaign to raise £150K in six weeks to fund the continuation of their community meal service in 2022.
The service began in March 2020 as a response to the COVID19 pandemic – and the cookery school has been feeding their community ever since. For months they delivered 500 meals a day by bicycle courier to households across the borough, and were a lifeline to many for whom the Made In Hackney cycle couriers were the only people they saw for months on end.
Today their community is still facing multiple challenges and the charity says the service is needed now more than ever. Sareta Puri, Community Meal Service Head Chef oversees the preparation of over 1200 meals a week. She says, “The service may have started as a response to the COVID19 pandemic – but as long as our community needs support, we’re going to keep cooking.”
Many people ask the charity, why do so many households in Hackney, and indeed across the UK, need support with food?
Made In Hackney Founder Sarah Bentley says, “There’s so many reasons. People might be dealing with a short or long term physical or mental health issue. Or living in temporary accommodation with no proper kitchen facilities to cook. Or have been made suddenly unemployed and are waiting for benefits to start. A lot of Hackney residents are struggling with rising rent prices. Or are living in working poverty where earnings are less than benefit level. Our community is amazingly resilient, talented and resourceful – but sometimes too many challenges happen at once and without support you’d go hungry. That’s the reality.”
Watch the campaign video and make a donation to support here:
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/noonegoeshungry2022
