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Half of 500 food parcels funding target achieved
28/11/2023
Duo need Banbury to dig deep with less than three weeks until the parcels will be delivered
A project which hopes to deliver 500 food parcels to struggling families this Christmas has so far received donations totalling around half of the funds required.
Prabhu Natarajan from The Lunch Box Project and Rowan Ridley from the Banbury Car and Bike Meet need to raise £5,000 and there’s now less than three weeks to go until the money is needed.
As of last night (Monday) £2,505 had been donated.
Prabhu and Rowan first came together last year to help people who were finding it difficult to afford food for their families. They raised over £4,000 which provided 300 Christmas food parcels and 6 months of fruit for the Chasewell Nursery, together with food parcels on an ongoing basis for families hit by the cost-of-living crisis.
In the face of increasing calls for support, this year Prabhu and Rowan are aiming to raise £5,000, which will enable an extra 200 food parcels to be delivered before Christmas this year.
Twelve Banbury schools have identified 295 local families in need of support. A further 205 struggling families have been noted by support organisations such as the Salvation Army, RVS, Hill Community Centre and others.
Rowan said: “When we have engaged with community leaders and organisations we discovered that things have got so costly that even emergency workers and teachers are using food banks.
“We have reached out to local schools, community centres, food banks and other charities to ask them to nominate families that they feel need support the most, and after one week over 60% of the 500 were spoken for – which shows how high the need is!”
The parcels will include some festive foods such as mince pies, Christmas pudding and Christmas cake, but also non-perishable items like pasta, rice and tinned foods which can be used for family meals.
Cash raised towards the £5,000 needed includes £440 raised at Banbury Car and Bike Meet events.
Anyone wishing to help Prabhu and Rowan reach their total can do so by following this link.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam