5 reasons to support Square Food Foundation's Squaremeal project

This is a project dear to my heart. Square Food Foundation is an incredible initiative in Knowle West, one of the most deprived areas of Bristol teaching local people to cook and providing a training for young adults in the community.

Unable to give classes during the Covid-19 crisis they have transformed their kitchen to provide free, delicious and healthy meals for local children and families specifically those that rely on free school meals. They hope to work with other schools and extend this service to reach more children and families that are at risk of hunger.

Easter weekend saw Square Food deliver meal kits to families, on top of their daily meal provision. The kits included the ingredients and recipes they needed to make pasta and tomato sauce at home the idea being to provide families with one more meal and something fun to do together.

"Our plan is to continue this as long as it takes and as long as we have the funds and resources to do so - certainly until the end of August." says Square Food's director Barny Haughton. "We have had some amazing support; donations through the Square Food localgiving page, volunteer chef support and food from many different food businesses including restaurants.

But the project is costing about £4k a week. We are taking each week at a time. But we know it is a lifeline for families at this particularly challenging time - not just the meals everyday but on other levels too.

Here are 5 reasons why your contribution could help us feed the families who are at greatest risk of going hungry.

1. Whilst many families will benefit from the free school meal vouchers issued by the government, there are some that will fall through the net for many reasons – even as obvious as not having access to an email account

2. There are no proper supermarkets in Knowle West. Many families rely on local convenience stores which have limited stock (especially now) and are usually more expensive.

3. Square Food has a well-established relationship with the Oasis Academy Connaught school and the families whose children attend it. This meal service is a way of keeping this important connection going. Along with the school staff who deliver the meals to the families, we are a familiar and cheerful face.

4. It costs just £30 to provide a child with a month of meals. It's a small local project but one to which your donation could make a real difference.

5. Supporting the #SquareMeals project now will not only provide a daily meal for some of Bristol's most vulnerable people, it will also ensure the Square Food Foundation can survive until we're able to resume our normal work – central to which is enabling people to gain the skills and knowledge to feed themselves well in any situation.

Bristol has 20,000 children living in poverty and 11,000 children eligible for free school meals. If you want to support our vital work please click here to contribute.

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