This Christmas, Coventry Foodbank is launching its fundraising campaign to help tackle the rising food crisis.
The Foodbank is appealing for support to help meet increasing demand through a new four-part social media video, filmed in collaboration with a local dance group Leamington and Warwick Academy of Dance.
Starting tomorrow (December 1ST), they hope to raise awareness as well as thousands of pounds for the foodbank, which has 14 centres throughout the city.
The project uses the medium of dance to narrate the journey of food from the supermarket shelves to the central warehouse where it is sorted and packed and then sent onto the homes of those who need it most.
Rich Smith, Head of Communications, said: “Last year we had huge success with our first social media campaign song The 12 Days of Christmas and the question was how were we going to top that this year?
“The rationale behind it is that we want to tell the story in short segments to keep people’s attention on social media and it builds momentum over time.”
Told across four chapters between December 1st and 7th, the short light-hearted video opens at Tesco in Clifford Bridge Road where a little girl asks her mother if she can donate food to the foodbank, prompting the magical ‘Foodbank Fairies’ to appear. The campaign culminates with the chance to watch a run through of the whole story, on December 9th. To donate or watch, from December 1st, visit: https://coventryfoodbank.org.uk/dance/ or by finding Coventry Foodbank on Facebook @coventryfoodbank and Instagram @coventry_foodbank.
Rich added: “There are more and more people living in Coventry who are facing a food crisis and every week Coventry Foodbank engages with people who are struggling to put food on the table and are completely relying on food and financial donations. It provides a lifeline to thousands of people across the city.”
Dee Ward, Project Manager for Coventry Foodbank, said: “The Foodbank has been serving the people of our city for over a decade, feeding thousands of individuals and families each year. This has been incredibly important, especially as the cost of living has increased dramatically this year, resulting in more first-time foodbank users.
“Last year, we recorded a song and put it on social media, which raised over £10,000 to support Coventry Foodbank. This year, we’re hopeful that our light-hearted dance video will raise much needed funds to help people facing food crisis this Christmas.”
- Coventry Foodbank is part of the Trussell Trust network of foodbanks. It was established in January 2011 and is one of the largest foodbanks in the UK.
- They partner with a wide range of care professionals who identify people in crisis and issue them with a foodbank voucher.
- Foodbank clients bring their voucher to a foodbank centre where it can be redeemed for three days’ emergency food. Volunteers meet clients over a warm drink and can signpost people to other organisations to help resolve the longer-term problems that might cause someone to need to use a foodbank.
- One in five of the UK population live below the poverty line.
- There are more than 420 foodbanks in the UK.
* https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8585/
The first part of the video can be seen here
