Dame Helen Mirren is backing the Christmas Meal Appeal run by the St Vincent de Paul society in partnership with food delivery giants Just Eat and Social Bite.
The Christmas Meal Appeal is aiming to fund 200,000 meals for homeless and vulnerable people. Visitors to the Social Bite-Just Eat website can choose to donate £3, £5 or £10 and Just Eat will match the donation pound for pound. The appeal comes after findings published by Save the Children earlier this month indicated more than a million families will rely on charity food parcels this Christmas.
“This is a chance to offer some festive help for those who have less than ourselves,” said Hollywood A-Lister and Academy Award winner Dame Helen Mirren, who released a video in support of the appeal. “For more than 320,000 homeless people across the UK, Christmas is another day of hunger and loneliness,” she said. “So, if you can, please make a donation to buy someone a Christmas meal.”
The SVP organises community support centres and soup runs across England and Wales as part of their mission to seek out and help anyone in need. President Helen O’Shea spoke about how The Christmas Meal Appeal would “provide much needed support for individuals and families suffering food poverty during the harsh winter months”.
“The effects of the pandemic have been debilitating for hundreds of thousands,” she added. The SVP has seen a three-fold increase in requests for food this year and expects to see demand continue to rise throughout winter, as cold weather and the after-effects of the pandemic take their toll.
Josh Littlejohn from Social Bite was also keen to stress the strain this year has put on vulnerable people. “This year has been a lot more difficult than most, with many people finding themselves financially vulnerable, and in the worst-case, homeless,” he said. “We know that Christmas, in particular, can be a very challenging time.”
UK Managing Director for Just Eat Andrew Kenny described the past year as “exceptionally difficult”. He also spoke about his hopes that by “matching customers’ donations pound for pound” the project might “provide tens of thousands of Christmas meals for the UK’s homeless and vulnerable people”.
The Christmas Meal Appeal could not be more needed. As the charitable sector faces a £10 billion shortfall this year, temperatures plummet and infections steadily climb, it is clear that the most vulnerable are going to need more support than ever.
For more information or to donate to the SVP’s Rise to the Challenge campaign, go to www.svp.org.uk/rise, @SVPEnglandWales (#SVPRiseChallenge) or telephone 020 7703 3030.
For more information on the Christmas Meal Appeal, please go to social-bite.co.uk/just-eat
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