Manchester
based social enterprise,
Foodinate announces its first events and catering
partnership in its fight against local and UK-wide food poverty.
The innovative not-for-profit organisation has teamed up with
The StudioVenue Company to offer businesses a special
Foodinate branded deal across their
venues in Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Glasgow.
Any business holding a conference or event in any of
The Studio Venue
Company city-centre locations will be offered a ‘Foodinate Fancy Cakes’ option
when choosing their day delegate package. By choosing this option, it would
mean that for every person attending an event in either Manchester, Birmingham,
Leeds or Glasgow, a hot nourishing meal will be provided for a local person in
need in the same community.
Foodinate aims to create a sustainable impact on food poverty in the UK,
teaming-up with restaurants and event and catering companies to ensure that every
Foodinate-branded food item bought in a participating establishment results in
a meal for a local person in need. Since launching its pilot study in September
2015, the innovative not-for-profit organisation has secured over 9,000 meals
for homeless people, that are served at the Booth Centre in Manchester city
centre, which provides hot food for its homeless visitors.
The Studio Venue Company is
Foodinate’s first venture into the events
and catering industry, following partnerships with local restaurants in
Manchester who have all signed up to the scheme. Following its success in
Manchester, Foodinate is also now looking to expand nationally by forming
partnerships with restaurant chains across the UK over the next 12 months.
Each event
and catering venue signed up to the Foodinate scheme agrees to work around £1
into their margin to cover the cost of the donated meal, so that a pre-selected
local food-giving charity can provide a hot, nourishing meal for someone in
need.
Foodinate’s
25 year old founder,
Caroline Stevenson, came up with the idea for Foodinate after
seeing first hand that the level of need had increased:
“
Growing up in Manchester, I I felt so angry
seeing the increasing number of people sleeping by the sides of the road,
begging for money and food. It’s crazy
to think that we live in the seventh richest country in the world, yet more
than 13 million people are living below the poverty line. With 1 in 6 parents
in the UK reporting having gone without food themselves so they can afford to
feed their families, I knew there was a social need for my venture. I wanted to
create a sustainable impact on this enormous issue and Foodinate aims to do
just that.”
Emma
Jennings, Managing Director of The Studio Venue Company comments:
“
When we were
approached about the Foodinate scheme, we were really taken by the idea and
knew it was something that we wanted to be involved with. With venues operating
in four different cities, the simplicity of the concept really appealed to us
and Caroline worked closely with us from start to finish to ensure the deal
worked for us and our delegate audience. We are delighted to be the first
events and catering company to be signed up to Foodinate and hopefully we can
help spread the word far and beyond”.