Local companies come together to tackle holiday hunger

Ongo are working alongside 2 Sisters Food Group and The Boparan Charitable Trust this half term to tackle holiday hunger within our most deprived communities.

From February 15 the organisations will deliver 70 parcels full of essential food items to those most in need, with 35 in Westcliff and a further 35 in Barton upon Humber.

Thanks to a campaign led by footballer Marcus Rashford, a huge media spotlight is being shone on child food poverty. However, unfortunately this isn’t something new, with around three million children in the UK at risk of going hungry during school holidays.

Since March 2020, Ongo has issued hundreds food parcels to battle holiday hunger, along with additional food vouchers. This is on top of more than 10,000 food parcels delivered to Ongo’s older and most vulnerable tenants during lock down, to help make sure they had access to vital supplies.

Victoria Bradshaw, Activities and Families Coordinator from Ongo said: “Unfortunately all too often we come across families on low incomes struggling to feed their families, through no fault of their own.

“That’s why Ongo, alongside some other fantastic organisations are working to tackle as much of this as possible with these extra food deliveries.

“We are committed to supporting those most in need and will continue to do so throughout lockdown and beyond. If you’d like to help fight holiday hunger too, please donate to your local foodbank and together we can make a difference.”

Along with supporting Ongo’s mission, The Boparan Charitable Trust is providing around one thousand children with a ‘food cupboard essentials’ boxes to help combat school holiday food poverty this February half term across the region.

Antonio Boparan, head trustee at The Boparan Charitable Trust, said: “As a children’s charity, school holiday poverty is an increasing concern of ours, especially with the country in lockdown and families under increasing financial pressure.

“We decided that we would support families in the Scunthorpe community as 2 Sisters Food Group is a big supporter of the Trust and we want to give back to their community in this difficult time.”

Each year Ongo invest over £1million into projects that provide much needed housing, financial, employment, training and general support to communities. To find out more about the work they do, find them on social media or visit their website: www.ongo.co.uk.