On 6th March, just three months after the Livery Food Initiative was launched, the Lord Mayor was able to hand over the keys for the first Livery Food Initiative City Harvest van to City Harvest Chairman, Stephen Winningham. The Lord Mayor Alderman Nicholas Lyons, Sheriff Andrew Marsden and their Consorts were joined for the occasion by over 50 Liverymen from 30 Companies.
The Livery Food initiative has already raised over £150,000 and is well on the way to the £190,000 the van will cost to run for the next three years, during which time it will deliver food for 2.4 million meals.
“This van will change people’s lives, offering reliable support and delivering hope in a very bleak time for so many.” Sarah Calcutt, CEO, City Harvest
City Harvest shares an average of 58,000 meals worth of food each day. Each of their 17 vans travels around 38 miles a day, making deliveries and collections, caring for approximately 89,000 people through over 375 charities. In 2022, City Harvest delivered almost 14 million meals, saving 22,000 tonnes of GHG from being released into the environment. Those meals, worth £25 million in retail value, were delivered for free, enabling the recipient charities to use funds to provide care, counselling and training to help families thrive rather than survive.
The need is huge and increasing. City Harvest estimates it will need to be delivering 2 million meals a month by the end of the year. Once the initial £190,000 target is reached the Livery Charity Chairs Group’s attention will turn to raising funds for a second van later this year.
More information about City Harvest is available on its website. Details of how Livery Companies and their Charities can support the Livery Food Initiative can be found on this site. Individual donations can be made via JustGiving. Further details are available from Hilary Lindsay.
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