11 June 2026
This month, there are some important updates about The Food Chain. It’s not easy news to share but it’s important to us that our community and our supporters remain fully informed.
The Food Chain’s financial stability has long been precarious. Earlier this year, we entered financial crisis. Dwindling grants from charitable foundations and ever-increasing need for our services have been squeezing our charity for a long time. Over the past few years we’ve made significant changes to try to weather the ever-increasing financial storm, and we are unable to make any more cuts to costs without seriously compromising the efficacy of our services.
For the past two months the staff team and Board of Trustees have been fighting closure, and doing everything we can to ensure survival of our vital services in some form. This has involved conversations with our friends in the sector, many of whom have rallied around us to help in different – and remarkable – ways.
Thanks to the intervention of the Terrence Higgins Trust, I’m thrilled to say that The Food Chain has been saved from closure – but we still need help! Safeguarding the future of The Food Chain’s services is now our priority, and so we are asking for your support.
Help us sustain The Food Chain
We have begun discussions about The Food Chain becoming a subsidiary of Terrence Higgins Trust. As a subsidiary, we will retain our name and charity number – important for ensuring the legacy of The Food Chain is not lost. It does also mean that The Food Chain will continue to need funding. Although the generosity and significant investment of Terrence Higgins Trust has meant our survival, it will not be enough alone to sustain us into the future.
The best way for our friends to support us at this time is to become a monthly donor. Anything you can spare makes a difference, whether it’s £5 a month (over a year funds a nutritionally tailored grocery delivery to an individual or family in need) or £55 a month (funds a delivery every month). A regular monthly contribution to the running of our vital services not only helps us now, but also builds us a stronger future.
For now, our immediate survival has meant some difficult decisions had to be made.
We are thrilled that the Grocery Delivery Service will continue. We know it reaches the most vulnerable in our communities. We are in discussion with Terrence Higgins Trust about retaining two key roles as part of the transition: Luke White as our Specialist HIV Dietitian, and Anna Brewster in a leadership role. We hope that this will be possible in order to retain our nutrition specialty, to bring over some experience and knowledge, and to ensure that the charity has consistency in leadership.
In December 2025 as part of the HIV Action Plan the government committed to funding formula milk for all babies of parents living with HIV. As this funding has not yet come through, formula milk has continued to be funded through charitable funds. This is not sustainable. Unless the government funding come through, I regret to say that formula milk referrals will close on 1st July 2026.
Lastly, it is with a very heavy heart that I must inform you our last Eating Together meal will be served on Wednesday 1st July. We very much hope that it can come back in the future, but for now it is an ending, and a devastating one.
I am very relieved to be able to tell you that closure has been avoided. Although we will look and feel very different, and although we are currently unable to bring people together, we will continue to be able to ensure that food and nutrition support can reach the most vulnerable in our communities.
This means that The Food Chain can live on to fight another day. With your support, there can still be many more days ahead.
Anna Brewster
CEO
