The Bread and Butter Thing receives £500,000 from Comic Relief and Sainsbury’s
Funding will used for expansion both geographically and in the range of services on offer
New locations to include East Midlands and South Yorkshire areas
Additional services will cover debt, energy, income maximisation and digital exclusion
Award-winning affordable food charity, The Bread and Butter Thing (TBBT) has received £500,000 in funding from Comic Relief and Sainsbury’s, directly aimed at supporting families struggling with food insecurity.
The funding will be used by TBBT to specifically target support for people in low income communities. It aims to prevent them from falling into food insecurity and financial straits – especially important now during the current cost of living crisis impacting families across the UK.
TBBT will receive half a million pounds to both expand its vital work into new regions as well as deepening its work within its existing communities. As a result TBBT will almost double in size by the end of 2023.
The charity currently runs almost 80 mobile affordable food clubs in low income communities across the north of England with locations stretching from Warrington to Darlington to Northumberland. Using surplus food from retailers, manufacturers and farmers, it offers its 48,000 members a deeply discounted weekly shop including fresh fruit and veg, fridge favourites and cupboard staples. Reduced price period products are also available and Healthy Start Vouchers can be used as payment.
The TBBT team have already identified two new regions for expansion in 2023. Comic Relief and Sainsbury’s funding will bring new operations in the East Midlands and South Yorkshire. These new depots will serve up to 35 hubs each, spreading TBBT’s work into low income communities further across the UK.
Alongside its affordable food offering, TBBT actively explores other ways it can support its members. As part of this new funding, it will further develop opportunities to work with partners to bring expert, face-to-face support to its hubs. This will offer members practical solutions and advice on a whole range of issues - including debt, energy, income maximisation and digital exclusion - and build on existing partnerships with organisations such as Citizens Advice, Groundwork, The Green Doctors, Morrison Trust and more.
Mark Game, CEO of The Bread and Butter Thing, explains: “This new funding from Comic Relief and Sainsbury’s will allow us to accelerate our expansion, taking us into new regions and communities in increasing need of access to affordable food.
“It will allow us to open up our hubs to other partners and bring in the sort of specialist support that our members struggle to access normally – whether that’s help with developing a CV, applying for benefits or advice about how to access grants for cavity wall insulation.
“Our work feels more vital than ever as low income families prepare for a challenging winter. I’m delighted that Comic Relief and Sainsbury’s have committed this funding to ensure that The Bread and Butter Thing can do everything we can to make life more affordable for as many people as possible.”
Ruth Cranston, Director of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability at Sainsbury’s, said: “With more challenging months ahead, support for those facing food poverty has never been more critical. We know how difficult the rising cost of living is for so many communities across the country which is why we’ve launched our new community programme Nourish the Nation, to help ensure that everyone has access to the food they need right now, whilst also helping to prevent those who are most at risk from facing food insecurity in the future.
“We are really pleased that the donation to The Bread and Butter Thing will go towards making a difference to those communities that really need it. The support the charity gives to these communities is invaluable and we hope that the funding will provide healthy and affordable food over the winter to the most vulnerable in our society.”
Samir Patel, CEO of Comic Relief, said: “Right now, communities across the UK need our support more than ever as the rising cost of living pushes people beyond breaking point. Families are fearful of what winter may mean for them as they are already being forced into making impossible decisions. It’s never been so urgent to tackle food poverty and so we are grateful to be working with Sainsbury’s on this much needed new programme to get help to people struggling the most.
“The work that The Bread and Butter Thing delivers is absolutely crucial in helping people across the country stay afloat in these deeply worrying times. It’s fantastic that this new funding will help to open new locations and reach even more people as the national crisis worsens.”
To learn more about how Comic Relief and Sainsbury’s funding will help support The Bread and Butter Thing’s work, tune into TBBT’s podcast, A Slice of Bread and Butter, with member, volunteer and Queen of TikTok, Shireen: It's a family affair with Shireen — The Bread and Butter Thing
Notes:
Details of locations of new depots and hubs opening in 2023 will be announced in due course. Meanwhile, new members are always welcome at our hubs. A complete list of locations is available on TBBT’s website at:
Become a Member — The Bread and Butter Thing
How to join The Bread and Butter Thing:
Joining is simple. There are no joining criteria. People interested in using TBBT’s affordable food service need to register as members and should contact TBBT by email at hello@breadandbutterthing.org or text 07860 063304. There is also a sign up form and more information at Contact Us — The Bread and Butter Thing. Once registered, members receive a weekly text offering the food service which they can then collect from their hub at the same time and day each week.
Want to help?
The service is reliant on the dedication and enthusiasm of its volunteers, with over 500 people giving their time each week to the charity which won the Queen's Award to Voluntary Service in 2020. Anyone interested in volunteering can find out more and get in touch through TBBT's website Contact Us — The Bread and Butter Thing.
TBBT’s work with Sainsbury’s
Sainsbury’s is also funding TBBT’s Warm Hubs which opened in September 2022, offering its members and local communities a warm, friendly place to come for a cuppa, a chat and the chance to meet friends and neighbours.
For more information: