Equipment fund provides 300+ new kitchen items to charities

January 2025

Food-focussed charities across Lancashire will be able to feed, support and train more people this year thanks to donations of new kitchen equipment.

More than 300 items have been distributed between 33 members of our Food Redistribution Centre thanks to a donation, allowing groups to increase their provision or make savings on their capital costs at a time of year when demand tends to increase.

The donation is the latest part of The Cumberland Building Society’s support of our work.

Equipment and items have gone out to groups including soup kitchens, food banks, community cafes and homeless shelters. This includes include 75 air fryers and 53 slow cookers, along with catering-size urns, bread makers, cookers and freezers, plus smaller items like chopping boards, pans and knife sets.

Naomi Winter, CFM Coordinator for the Food Redistribution Centre, said: “The Cumberland’s teams continue to be really generous in their support of our work. Every item supplied will help our members to feed and support people in need. Some will be using their new equipment to provide additional or alternative meals or drinks, others will use the equipment to run classes or offer training opportunities.

“One of the biggest benefits of our food redistribution work is that it lowers running costs for smaller charities, who make savings on their food costs. Being able to provide groups with new equipment does this too, allowing them to save or channel it into extra support for their communities.

“We’re so grateful to The Cumberland for their support.”

The c.£8,500 cost of the equipment was met by The Cumberland’s annual Pledge for Votes fund, with £2 donated for every vote cast by customers at its AGM.

A further c.£6,700 funding has also been donated to our food redistribution operations, helping to cover the costs of increasing our deliveries to communities across Cumbria. We now dispatch two vans to the county every day, to support our 56 member groups there. In 2023, the Pledge for Votes fund allowed us to provide dozens of fridges and freezers for CFMs across the two counties.

Claire Deekes, Chief Customer Officer for The Cumberland, said: “Thanks to members who voted at our AGM in July, we’re proud to have been able to make this donation for equipment to be used in kitchens across our communities. It’s inspiring to hear the different ways so many food groups are already able to expand their offering for people who need it most. 

“Our purpose is to create a banking experience that is kinder to people and the planet and that includes looking out for the communities we serve. Our charitable giving is kinder banking in action. It’s gratifying to hear from the food groups that we’re having a real impact.”

Amongst the 33 groups supported:

  • Our own soup kitchen, Supper’s Up, will have a new catering urn and hundreds of extra takeaway cups to help give out hot drinks to people facing homelessness or food poverty this winter;
  • Also in Preston, Red Rose Recovery plans to use its 10 air fryers to deliver air fryer cookery courses, centred on teaching people healthy eating tips and budgeting skills;
  • Rococo, a Leyland-based community cafe offering training and volunteering opportunities to adults with learning disabilities, has received a range of specialist cooking equipment to improve accessibility and make practical accommodations for its participants;
  • Food for Thought, in Lancaster, requested a food dehydrator to help it to preserve and extend the usable life of produce;
  • Ulverston requested a new cooker to help lower start-up costs as it kits out a new building in South Lakes;
  • And in Carlisle, Oasis will receive a smoothie maker and three catering urns to provide drinks for people visiting its Food Pantry while The Lookout will receive six air fryers and six slow cookers to also delivery cookery classes for its community.

The fund has also supported 10 groups across East and South Lancashire, allowing The Cumberland’s ongoing sponsorship of our food redistribution activities to extend beyond outside of its core operating area.

 

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