News
The City Bridge
Trust backs healthy eating and waste reduction
Back in February, a charity which has benefitted from several
grants from The City Bridge Trust was recognised at the prestigious
Sustainable City Awards. Food for All was established in 1999
with the principle aims of providing food relief to homeless people
and raising awareness about environmental issues, in particular,
waste management.
Food for All provides recycled food for homeless people in
several London venues. Six days a week, the organisation
collects 2.25 tonnes (832 tonnes p.a.) of waste food which would
otherwise go to landfill, mainly from Sainsbury’s. Much of
this is still serviceable but near to/on its ‘sell by’ date.
The organisation has close links with Bhaktivedanta Manor in
Watford, the Hare Krishna site bought for it by George
Harrison. The waste food is taken daily to the Watford Centre
where it is used to prepare 800+ vegetarian meals by
mid-morning. Whatever of the remainder can be recycled is
composted at the Watford site. The meals are then distributed
by rickshaw to a number of venues in Camden and
Islington. The organisation is based in premises in
Kings Cross where homeless people can drop in, learn computing
skills and take part in a variety of activities. The
organisation is heavily dependent on volunteers, many of whom are
homeless or ex-homeless people, who gain experience and skills as
well as a sense of purpose.
The Trust is currently funding the salary of a part-time
worker and materials to develop an environmental education garden
at the Watford Centre. Over 250 schools, predominantly from
North London, have visited the garden. At weekends and in the
school holidays the garden is also visited by families,
particularly from Wembley, Harrow, Southall and Hendon. The
grant has enabled Food for All to purchase equipment for recycling
oil and cardboard; composting (including a wormery) and shredding;
and environmental education materials, including information
boards. The garden has been attractively laid out
and is accessible for wheelchairs, with raised beds, also suitable
for wheelchair users.
Food for All was awarded first place in the category “Access to
goods and services for disadvantaged communities” at the
Sustainable City Awards in February.
Further details on the Sustainable City
Awards
Food for All web site:
www.foodforall.org.uk