Supporting Southampton families affected by food poverty this summer

Welcome to a review of this summer's charitable impact from City Catering, from Jessica Clasby-Monk, our Charitable Impact Lead.

We are preparing for a new term, and wanted to share an update on our progress in supporting families affected by food poverty over the school holidays - so-called 'holiday hunger'.

With thanks to our sponsors, we have been able to do more this summer to help families - not just by serving meals, but by facilitating home cooking. We know that families can have a range of challenges; whether its affording ingredients, feeling confident in the kitchen, or simply having the right equipment. We are working on plans for future school holidays also, to do more to support families.

"Me and my children attended the Make Lunch at Valentine Primary School and we love it! My youngest is a very fussy eater and yet he tries everything there. He has found a new love for the cheesy tomato pasta bake! Am very pleased we have the recipe to be able to make it at home!"

This summer, in numbers... 
We opened our school kitchens for 19 days over the summer, and served 849 hot nutritious meals for free to those attending free holiday clubs. We also provided 960 meals for families to cook and enjoy at home, with 8 different recipes to choose from resulting in a total of 1809 meals donated to families.

Promoting home cooking
Thanks to a grant from Southampton City Council, those attending the Lunch Crowd initiative clubs went home with a grocery bag of ingredients to cook following low-cost recipes written by our in-house chefs - from pasta bake and minestrone soup, to biryani and cous cous salads we covered a range of options for families to explore. All 960 meals were gratefully received and enjoyed by the families!

"We also got to take home a food goody bag which was a lovely surprise. We definitely will be making these healthy recipes over the next couple of days!"

Thank you to Wave 105 listeners!
We were delighted to be awarded grant funding from the Wave 105 Cash 4 Kids Superhero Day which has helped fund the delicious meals served this summer. With the same robust School Food Plan standards, we've been serving the same nutritious and popular dishes that children enjoy during the term time. 


Sponsor us today
We are already planning ahead to the next school holidays - which will see us supporting more clubs across the City. Donate today to ensure that we can continue to help feed families during the school holidays who may otherwise go hungry.

Thank you to our sponsors and partners!
Thank you to Apps in the Sky, Bidfood, Carswell Gould, Fusion FSM, Harvest Fine Foods, Hepburn Removals, Southampton City Council, Vivid and Wave 105 who have all kindly sponsored our Lunch Crowd initiative this year - it is beyond appreciated. 

And a huge thank you must also go to our schools and our partners TLG Make Lunch and Coach 4 U Sports for delivering the activities for free for families.

We have many plans for how to enhance the support we can provide families - head on over toTwitter to follow our day-to-day charitable activities.

Thank you for your continued support, 

Jessica Clasby-Monk, Charitable Impact Lead