Blackburn organisation doubles food support during Covid-19

Blackburn-based Community & Business Partners CIC have been able to more than double the amount of food they are distributing each week, thanks to the Government’s Food Charities Grant Fund.

CB Partners, which operated the Waste Not Want Not food surplus scheme for the past 4 years already provides free and heavily subsidised food packages across the area. Their experience has enabled them to unlock the funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which means they have been able to supply an additional 4,000 meals in the last few weeks alone. 

Community & Business Partners chief executive Amanda Meachin said “We’ve been providing food through Waste Not Want Not for the last four years, meaning we’ve already supplied tens of thousands of meals. We manage to do this by collecting surplus produce from Lidl, Aldi and Tesco each week. 

“Recently though, local communities have been facing unprecedented challenges with the COVID19 pandemic and as an organisation we were well placed to be able to help feed our local communities”. 

“It has been great how local suppliers like Sandersons Butchers in Baxenden, and Class One Wholesale have worked to provide some of the very best produce to support people locally. We’re able to keep really low food miles too, with the meat travelling just 15 miles from field to fork.  The support the Government has given through DEFRA has really helped the people of Blackburn and Darwen”.

Food minister Victoria Prentis said: “Community and Business Partners have been doing brilliant work amid a significant increase in demand over the past few months.

“It is absolutely vital they have the resources they need and this funding will help get food to some of the most vulnerable people in Blackburn and Darwen at this enormously challenging time.”

The Food Charities Grant Fund grants provide immediate support for a limited period of time to help to feed those most vulnerable due to the economic impacts of Covid-19, ensuring they can access a continual supply of food in a time of increased demand. These include the elderly, those who have left home due to domestic abuse, and those who are struggling financially. The Food Charities Grant Fund is part of a wider £16 million package to provide food to those who are struggling as a result of coronavirus.