The recent record increases in food prices are having serious implications for the Food Chain and directly impact the cost of meals provided to service users. The average cost of providing Sunday meals has risen from around £3.00 to over £3.50 per person in the past few months. The cost of providing emergency hampers and grocery boxes has increased by a similar amount.

In order to continue delivering the same number of high quality, nutritious meals, we urgently need to find significant additional funding.

If you feel that you can help, please click here to donate. Thank you for your generous support.

“The era of cheap food is over.” The Economist

"Era of cheap food ends as prices surge" The Times

"Food cost increase adds £750 to annual bill " The Telegraph

Food Prices on the rise and rise - BBC:

"Food prices are accelerating at their fastest rate since records began, fuelling a rise in the average family's shopping bill of £750 a year. Official figures showed wholesale food prices rose by 7.4 per cent in the past 12 months - more than three times the headline rate of inflation."

Record rise in food prices - The Guardian:

"The highest-ever recorded rise in the price of food….was driven by an all-time high annual inflation rate in ingredients for home-produced food of 36%, mainly due to soaring wheat costs. Bread prices rose by 7.5% last year, while milk, cheese and eggs surged by 15%."

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I am delighted to have the opportunity to work with The Food Chain, an organisation that I have long admired. The Food Chain is unique in many ways – but probably most importantly because of its greatest resource: the committed network of volunteers that enable thousands of meals to be delivered to hundreds of service users every month. I don’t know of another charity in the UK that has the same ratio of staff to volunteers (just 6 paid staff and over 800 volunteers) and such exceptional levels of commitment.

Every day charities are becoming more efficient and businesslike because of increasing competition and regulatory requirements. While many charities’ agendas seem confused by this, losing touch with their original purpose, it is uplifting to know that at the heart of The Food Chain, there is still a clear commitment to true charity; a culture where people selflessly support those in need, by giving their time and skills freely.

Key to my new role, managing The Food Chain, will be balancing the commitment and goodwill of our long standing volunteers who deliver our essential core services - with the need to ensure that we adapt, to address the changing requirements of our service users. Given increasing food prices and economic uncertainty, we must also continue to offer our services as efficiently as possible, to ensure continued support from the generous individuals and organisations that believe in and fund our work.

My personal commitment to fighting HIV was reawakened when I was running a business in the Caribbean for a number of years. I was involved in the establishment of a number of community groups trying to support people living with HIV; people who had no access to lifesaving drugs. Good nutrition was one of the only weapons we had and I very quickly became aware of the essential function of nutrition in the fight against HIV. My role in the Caribbean evolved though extensive voluntary work and I have represented the needs of people living with HIV at national, regional and international level, advocating for change.

I hope that my personal experience as a volunteer working to improve the lives of people affected by HIV will help to increase the impact of the valuable work undertaken by The Food Chain. My work will focus on two areas: supporting and refining the excellent work already being undertaken and helping to expand our services, to meet the evolving needs of our service users, enabling them to play a full and independent role in society again.

These are exciting times for The Food Chain - and for the service users that we support. However, these plans will require the continued backing of our funders, the sustained commitment of our volunteers, the renewed dedication of our staff and the vision and leadership of our trustees. I am delighted to be onboard, am excited by the challenges ahead and look forward to working with you all to see the difference that we can make.

Andy

Bobby has been volunteering with The Food Chain as a kitchen assistant at Bermondsey since December 2007. When not volunteering with us he loves to cook. He is always having dinner parties and his dream is to own a Caribbean restaurant in London. Aside from The Food Chain and food Bobby loves his other half Len, their dog Captain, theatre, ballet, travelling and living in London.

His message for fellow volunteers is "Keep up the good work, you are all great!" Bobby is more than happy to give volunteers and lead cooks tips on Caribbean cooking if they want them, so if you are interested please contact Chris in the office and I'll pass on your details. He is also "looking forward to introducing more Caribbean dishes to The Food Chain menu...I think these are a bit limited at the moment."

Michele has been volunteering as a kitchen assistant at Highbury since February 2001, though has been off rota since September. Having been away from The Food Chain for a few months he says he has really missed it and was pleased to be back. "No matter how big the challenge we always manage to rise to it without panic or worries and have a laugh afterwards." When not volunteering with us Michele loves music, live gigs, collecting old books and watching old movies, especially foreign language films. He says he is also just about to join the gym again and is trying to improve his Spanish and French.

Thanks should also go to Louise Beegan for planning the menu, order of service and shopping list. To Katy Gold and David Sagman for doing the shopping in time for Sunday. And to the rest of the kitchen team who helped Bobby and Michele on the day.

Thanks to you all.

Last Sunday Sue agreed to lead the Tooting kitchen team in the absence of a lead cook. And she did an excellent job. Food Chain trustee Adam Pepper said: “not only did Sue ensure that 60 meals were prepared, she was cool, calm and confident when leading the team…the meals were delicious and ready on time – an excellent achievement for someone who has never lead cooked before.”

Sue's loves include the sunshine, cycling and when we cook great food and get it out on time, preferably with leftovers. Her message for fellow volunteers is that "it is worth stepping outside your comfort zone and having a go at a role you do not usually undertake, as it gives you a better understanding of The Food Chain and usually proves to be good fun, if challenging at times! I can highly recommend it."

Thanks are also due to Jenny Greenhalgh for planning the menu, recipes and doing the shopping in advance.

Thanks very much Sue.

The David Geffen building on Avenue of the Americas housed the both administrative offices and the impressive kitchens, one to prepare the majority of the meals, and another to prepare the meals for the 25% of clients who have special dietary requirements.

We were able to volunteer as part of the corporate volunteer program, accompanying staff from the Old Navy store, who were taking a day out to volunteer, preparing vegetables for the following day's meals.

In addition to the meal delivery service, GLWD also provide a nutrition and counselling service for anyone who needs it, and also provide client advocacy.


Preparing for the shift

The ladies from Old Navy

Staff member Adrian and volunteer Audrey, God's Love We Deliver

We would like to thank all the staff and volunteers at God's Love We Deliver - especially Susan, Sal, Brandon, Kate and the kitchen team for providing with such a wonderful opportunity and making us feel very welcome; and we look forward to welcoming Brandon to our Hammersmith kitchen this Sunday!

You can check out the God's Love We Deliver website by clicking here

The nomination form can be accessed at the link below and must be returned by 28 April 2008. In order to help you fill in the form, below are some sample answers, which you can use, or of course you can fill the form in however you think is appropriate.

To access the form Click Here

Sample Answers

Nominees name: c/o Rhiannon McCorkindale
Nominees Address: 202-208 New North Road
Nominees Postcode: N1 7BJ
Nominees telephone number: 0207 354 0333

What kind of voluntary/community work is the person/group involved with?

Answer 1:

The Food Chain exists to ensure that those living with HIV do not have their ability to get well and stay well hampered by a lack of access to good nutrition. The Sunday meal delivery Service is run by volunteers and provides HIV-positive Londoners and their families and carers with a hot Sunday Lunch, hot or cold dessert and a cold light meal. It takes over 100 volunteers a week to provide this service which delivers 450 meals a week.

Answer 2:

The Food Chain has existed since Christmas Day, 1988. To date it has delivered over 500,000 meals to HIV-positive Londoners and their families and carers. This Sunday meal service is delivered entirely by volunteers who plan, prepare and deliver the meals to the doorsteps of our service users.

Why do you think this person/group deserves recognition?

Answer 1:

The Food Chain has over 1,000 volunteers and a minimum of 100 volunteers a week donate their time to The Food Chain Sunday Service. Volunteers also run The Food Chain through various committees. Volunteers also collect funds for The Food Chain as street collectors, collecting money on club nights, through sponsorship or by arranging their own fundraising event.

Answer 2:

In addition to volunteering on Sundays, The Food Chain volunteers also collect funds, and lead the organisation. The Management Committee and Trustees are all volunteers, and volunteers also sit on specialist Subcommittees that manage every aspect of the organisation including communications, community fundraising, finance, the Sunday Service and a Subcommittee of nutrition specialists.

How much time and effort is spent on this project?

Answer 1:

Volunteers donate at least one Sunday a month to The Food Chain, though many offer more of their time by becoming a member of a committee or by fundraising. Others may become a rota coordinator, donating their time during in the week to ensure that there are enough volunteers every Sunday.

Answer 2:
Each week approximately 100 volunteers donate between 4 and 16 hours of their time, sometimes more to The Food Chain.

What overall impact has this had on the community/heritage project?

Answer 1:

The effort put in by volunteers means we are better able to meet the needs of our service users. Many of our service users have mobility problems or are unable to afford good food, and rely on The Food Chain for their food. Our 2007 survey shows that we meet the ethnic tastes of 80% of our service users by tailoring 45% of the meals. The majority of our service users believe that the food looks and tastes very good or good, and over half believe that the nutritional balance of the food is very good.

Answer 2:

Our volunteers allow us to provide a service that provides housebound HIV-positive Londoners with the good nutrition they need to get well. Good nutrition combats the effects of the HIV virus itself, manage medication side effects and fight opportunistic infection. Research shows that good nutrition helps HIV-positive people live longer.

Please explain why activities would not have happened if this person/group had not been involved?

Answer 1:

Without volunteers The Food Chain would cease to exist. There is not a single member of staff paid to shop, cook, supervise or distribute our food. The time donated by The Food Chain volunteers adds almost £600,000 of gifts-in-kind to the service we provide. The work of the volunteers ensure that the money received from grants and trusts and other donations goes that much further.

Answer 2:

Without volunteers The Food Chain would cease to exist. We would not be able to provide a Sunday meal delivery Service. Also, we would be unable to develop and implement all our plans for future services. The Food Chain is the only HIV-nutrition organisation in the UK. Without us HIV-positive people in the UK would have nowhere to turn to for information and advice.

Are there any other reasons why you believe this person/group should win an award? (eg an original idea, overcoming a difficulty etc.)

Answer 1:

The Food Chain launched The Ian Craddock Cook Book on World AIDs Day (Dec 1) 2007. It is a one-of-its-kind cook book designed specifically for use by HIV-positive people, or anyone cooking for HIV-positive people. It is used as a resource by The Food Chain Lead Cooks, and is also used by similar organisations around the world. The cook book has been developed and populated with recipes by volunteers. Recipes are available for everyone, medical and nutritional needs have been taken into account, and recipes are searchable by country of origin, course and food type.

Answer 2:

The Food Chain has launched original projects in the past, and will soon by launching two new services that will require more volunteers to deliver them. The home shopping scheme will give service users the opportunity to learn more about nutrition and how to make healthier choices in the supermarket, and trained volunteers will deliver this scheme. Also the “Positive Eating” service is currently being developed where trained volunteers with an interest in nutrition will deliver lectures and cookery classes to HIV-positive people who want to learn more about healthy eating.