With groundbreaking research showing a staggering 7.3 million adults in the UK cannot afford to feed their households[1], East London community group, The Community Food Hub, has today taken to Victoria Park and created an evocative temporary installation, laying down 730 plates, with each plate representing 10,000 of the 7.3 million people going hungry in the UK.
Research found over a quarter (28%) of households in London are living in poverty and almost half (43%) of those on Universal Credit lived in food insecurity. Set against the backdrop of such stark figures, The Community Food Hub was set up by local hero Michelle Dornelly in April 2020 after she recognised the need for more food distribution and food banks in her local area during the pandemic. Since 2020, Michelle’s hubs have gone from strength to strength, now supporting more than 100,000 local people in the East London borough of Hackney, a borough where almost half of children (48%) are living in poverty – the third-highest level of all local authorities in the UK.
But with the cost of living crisis worsening and energy bills soaring, Michelle is starting to struggle with the rising demand of the service. Wanting to raise awareness, Michelle has teamed up with seasoned activist Sean Binder, a campaigner for marginalised communities across Europe and beyond, to take the fight beyond Hackney. Documenting their emotional journey together, streaming service Paramount+ and award-winning television production company Proper Content have combined forces to document Michelle and Sean’s tireless work at the grassroots level, as well as their herculean efforts to try and draw national attention to the broader issues in play. ‘The Changemakers’ (w/t) is a landmark new documentary series being filmed in the borough of Hackney and is set to broadcast in 2023.
