A community cookery school in Hackney, East London, has delivered tens of thousands of meals to those in need during the COVID-19 lockdown.
The project also recently gained the support of Oscar winner and The Crown actor Olivia Colman, who was spotted delivering some of the meals.
The initiative is being led by charity Made In Hackney after they launched a Crowdfunding campaign in March, with the support of local gourmet restaurant Angelina’s. The campaign raised an incredible £80,000, which has enabled the team to deliver more than 30,000 meals since the start of lockdown.
Since mid-March, volunteers have been working hard to deliver around 500 meals each day, clocking up more than 3,500 hours together.
With restrictions in place during the lockdown, the free meals have been a lifeline for those in need during the past few months. The team has also been working closely with frontline NHS staff and local charities & support services to help identify which households were most in need.
Made In Hackney founder Sarah Bentley says:
The service is saving lives. We’ve heard stories of our meals being the first food in households for days and our volunteers have been able to help community members in need of hospital attention. Made In Hackney’s welfare callers have telephoned ambulances on multiple occasions.
Like many other charitable initiatives during the pandemic, the project was pulled together at very short notice, following the news that the cookery school would have to close its doors. The charity was contacted local gourmet restaurant Angelina’s, who offered to help, and a plan was soon hatched to enable them to continue supporting the local community.
Since it was founded in 2012, the charity and helped to change the lives of 15,000 Londoners through their free-to-attend cookery classes, skills training and celebration parties.
Image by Lucy Young as appeared on Made in Hackney Instagram
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