Thank you, Tesco Bags of Help Covid-19 Community Fund

We are delighted to share that we were successful in our grant application for the Tesco Bags of Help Covid-19 Community Fund, being awarded £500 towards our Care Meals service.

We regularly deliver approximately 100 meals per day through our Care Meals service, ensuring that vulnerable and elderly adults across Southampton are able to access a hot, nutritious meals during the week. It is an essential service, in normal times. However, since the Government announced that those over-70 and/or those with underlying health conditions needed to take extra care in social distancing, with some being required to shield, in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, we saw a huge increase in demand.

Almost immediately after those policies came in, we saw a 75% increase to our daily meal numbers - and found ourselves also supporting other venues, such as homeless shelters and rehabilitation units. We are used to diversifying and adapting, often supporting services at short notice, whilst they manage other challenges that they may be facing. Our teams are proud to be able to do their bit for the Southampton community.

In order to meet this demand, we needed to fund additional insulated boxes which enable us to safely transport hot, chilled and frozen meals across the City. Our drivers can often visit 10 homes per round, so it is vital that we have this equipment. The Tesco Bags of Help Covid-19 grant has enabled us to purchase eight medium, and two large insulated boxes. Thank you Tesco!