More Than 1,000 Meals Delivered In Bid To Combat 'Holiday Hunger'

The month of August saw Everton in the Community partner with the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation and Meals & More to help combat holiday hunger across Liverpool.

The Club’s official charity received £5,000 from the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation, the charity arm of Everton’s stadia partner Sodexo and £1,120 from Brake’s charitable arm Meals & More to provide 1,000 healthy and nutritious meals to local children living in poverty.

And the past five weeks has seen Everton in the Community staff and Sodexo volunteers hand deliver 1,043 meals across Liverpool City Region to participants and their families from a handful of the charity’s programmes in a bid to help tackle holiday hunger and relieve financial pressures on families who have been hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Holiday hunger is an ongoing issue that has been exacerbated by the pressures of the pandemic, with more than half of the families living in wards surrounding Goodison Park living in poverty. The donation from the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation and Meals & More has been used by Everton in the Community to feed participants living in these areas of deprivation as well as promote key life skills such as the need for a healthy balanced diet and an active lifestyle. Moving forward, the Club’s official charity will look to continue its new relationship with Meals & More to consider plans in two priority areas in Liverpool to help combat hunger over a longer period.

 
Everton in the Community Senior Programme Manager, Lara King, said: “This generous donation from Sodexo and Meals & More has enabled us to feed more than 1,000 young people and their families. Child poverty is a prominent issue in Liverpool and sadly this has only increased as a result of the pandemic but these meals have gone a long way to putting smiles on the faces of families who have struggled during recent months. I would also like to thank Gillions of Crosby for helping to provide us with a wide variety of healthy meals for our participants to enjoy.”

Gareth John, Chair, Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation, said: “Providing daily hot meals plays a key role in helping to reduce holiday hunger for children in deprived areas, and with this year’s pandemic, it’s more important than ever to support families living in these communities.  I am proud that we were able to partner with Meals & More and Everton in the Community to ensure that less children go hungry this summer.”

Peter McGrath, Operations Director, Meals & More, added: “Sport and other activity can have a positive impact in engaging communities as well as reducing isolation of youngsters and improving their well-being. We were delighted to partner with Sodexo and through Everton in the Community be able to help these summer clubs by providing healthy meals for participants, who often have limited access to adequate meal provision during the school holidays."

The Stop Hunger initiative was created by Sodexo in 1996 to support a variety of charities that help to tackle hunger, either through directly feeding vulnerable people or skills training that equip individuals to improve their overall wellbeing and eating habits.

Meals & More, the independent charity initially set up by Brakes in 2015, provide support to children who live with poverty and social isolation and have limited access to adequate food provision and activity throughout school holiday period.