#FeedCheltenham Campaign Success Inspires Other Food Poverty Fundraisers
The Background:
In the UK, during the Covid-19 Pandemic, those who were furloughed received 80% of their salaries, however for some, losing 20% of their income meant that it became a real struggle to support themselves and their families. For some others who lost their jobs, or the self-employed, the situation threw them into real hardship as according to the Money Advice Service, 25% of people have under £100 in savings set aside for a rainy day! Sadly Covid-19 represented more than a rainy day, it’s been a full-blown storm which has left many in severe financial difficulty.
The #FeedCheltenham campaign was the brainchild of Ralph Catto, an Angello Partner based in Cheltenham, UK. He believes in the old adage that ‘Charity begins at home’ and set about helping those who were struggling in his local area.
Our Aim:
The aim of the project was to support those struggling financially in Cheltenham due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and to ensure that they could feed themselves and their families. The goal was for all funds raised to be spent on sustenance and essential supplies.
Our Work:
To achieve this, one of the Angello partner worked with a charity called Family Space to initiate a collaboration between various local organisations with the shared goal of feeding those in need in Cheltenham.
The strategy was to turn donations into prepaid supermarket vouchers to be distributed out to community members (schools and charities) to hand to struggling families. The supermarket voucher recipients could then buy the food and supplies that they require. Angello helped to instigate the union of numerous groups in achieving and promoting this shared goal, including the lead vicar of West Cheltenham Churches, various local charities and schools, even the local celebrity clown, Tweedy. You can check out their promotional video here.
Measuring Success:
We can measure the success of the project through the Crowdfunder page #FeedCheltenham which has raised over £35k in online donations from over 360 supporters (accurate at time of writing). Additionally, the campaign has inspired other #Feed campaigns on Crowdfunder, such as #FeedGloucester and #FeedMalvern who have picked up the baton in the fight against food poverty in their local areas too.
Furthermore, thousands of supermarket vouchers have been purchased so far which have effectively helped hundreds of families. 6,000 free meals have been funded by The Long Table (an activist group who aim to solve food poverty) and the Feed 5K initiative. over £10,000 has been raised/ committed so far by the #FeedCheltenham campaign with #FeedGloucester achieved a similar amount too. And so, the power of good inspires others to help and the cycle continues.