There are three important food campaigns this Christmas, each of which is focused on the needs for people in all parts of the UK.

As The Trussell Trust explains in their Winter Campaign which is entitled Impossible Decisions and which is available here, there are people in our nation who are facing impossible decisions such as Pay the Bills or Eat Dinner and they go on to suggest that some families are faced with the challenge of Stay Warm or Eat Every Day and either Buy Gifts or Buy Food.

Then in the FareShare Campaign which is available here which explains

Join Tom Kerridge and Marcus Rashford to fight childhood hunger this Christmas

Tom and Marcus: shining a light on the issue of food insecurity faced by millions of children in the UK

We are grateful to you for responding to Tom and Marcus’ call to donate to our Christmas appeal. With your help we can put a meal on the table of thousands of families like Daniel’s and Moira’s this winter. Because no one should go hungry. Please donate now.

I have had the privilege of working with both FareShare and Foodbank schemes and I was intrigued to see back in June that the call by the EFRA Committee in Parliament which in early April had called for the Government to fund charities like FareShare for redistributing surplus food across the UK. Tragically as the Petition explains, the Government decided not to provide the funds and the reality is that unless the funding is provided, tonnes of surplus food that could be eaten will be destroyed every year as has been the case in the past. The Petition is due to end on 29th December and so far we have only achieved 3,400 signatures. If we could get it to 10,000 by the 29th December the Government would need to respond. If we could get it to 100,000 by the 29th December then in the New Year Parliament could potentially debate it. Please consider signing this petition here while assisting the FareShare and The Trussell Trust charities or sending funds to the local foodbanks in your area.