For many people, Christmas can be a really tough time and that is particularly true for the vulnerable and homeless people of Newcastle. Now however, a challenge has been cooked up asking generous Geordies to help The People’s Kitchen raise much needed funds to make Christmas as normal as possible for those in need.
TV celebrity chef, Si King, patron of the charity has launched the #foodforthought campaign which is hoping to raise £15,000 during the run up to Christmas and make people think about vulnerable and homeless people across Newcastle.
The campaign encourages people to get involved by baking a cake and selling it to raise funds or to donate money to specifically feed someone at Christmas.
Si has laid down a culinary challenge by providing his personal recipes for three types of cake – Madeira cake, chocolate brownies and a challenging Croquembouche. Detailed instructions are on the website as well as downloadable labels, bunting and posters. Anyone can take part and as Si explains the simple act of baking a cake will change lives.
“At The People’s Kitchen we stand for food, friendship and futures. Christmas is a time when all three of these become even more important and now everyone has a chance to have fun baking a cake and making a real difference to the quality of life for someone. It’s not just about feeding people, it’s about giving people a helping hand and setting them off on a fruitful and joyous life.
“We want people to get together with family, work colleagues or the larger community, talk about The People’s Kitchen, think about their good work and raffle or auction your cake. It’s a fun thing to do and you will make a real difference.”
Another important part of the Food for Thought campaign is being run in partnership with online voucher website,NEOffers.co.uk where a donation of just £5 buys a three course Christmas dinner for a person in need of food and friendship.
Chris Tubman of NEOffers.co.uk has been helping The People’s Kitchen for the past two years. Last year he raised an amazing £8000 and this year he hopes to exceed that target.
“I started helping two years ago and I’ve always tried to do what I can for the friends of The People’s Kitchen as I feel that no one is immune from becoming homeless. All it takes is a certain set of circumstances to be against you.
“With NEoffers.co.uk I had a way of raising far more support than I could ever raise myself. Initially, it was set up with the hope of raising £500 to feed an extra 100 people in need. The campaign in its first year went viral raising £6,500 which was only beaten by last year’s total of £8,005 which was raised with the generosity and support of the north-east community. This year, we are looking to raise an ambitious £15,000 as part of the Food for Thought campaign.”
Another local business that has helped with the campaign is Newcastle creative communications company, The Roundhouse who have given time to create, design and execute the campaign across film, print, digital and social media as part of their charitable donation.
To find out more about baking a cake or donating the cost of a meal please see the websitehttps://www.peopleskitchen.co.uk/food-for-thought/ or https://www.neoffers.co.uk/products/homeless-christmas-newcastle