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masks. “I like to think of myself
as a clean person,” laughs Dom,
“but I think I’ve showered and
washed my hands more times
in the past few weeks than I have
in 20 years!”
Beyond fighting hunger, there’s
another reason the charity’s work
is important: “Over the course of
a year, the mission stops
over 30 tonnes of food
from going into
landfill,” says Dom.
“If I decided to close
and self-isolate,
so many elderly and
vulnerable people
would have to go
outside when they
didn’tneedto, so much food would
gointhebin,and people would
be more desperate than ever.
What we do is vital.”
It’s not just about providing bare
necessities but about joy and dignity.
During lockdown, Dom heard
a woman was about to celebrate her
91st birthday. “We delivered a food
parcel with a birthday cake and she
was blown away,” he says. “Things
like that make all this worthwhile.”
Dom’s Food Mission welcomes
donations; domsfoodmission.comon a nationwide footing.
The panic buying rife in the first
few weeks of the Covid-19 crisis
placed strain on supermarkets,
which was challenging for Dom’s
Food Mission. “The pattern for
every superstore has been all over
the place. No one knows when
deliveries are coming in,” says
Dom. Some chains he
usually works with,
like Costa, KFC
and Greggs, have
been closed.
At the same
time, Dom’s
team was reduced
from 20 to five.
Nevertheless, the
charity made over 400
doorstep drops in the
first three weeks of
lockdown in Hastings, St Leonards
and Bexhill on the south coast.
“When you see a family with two
children who had nothing and
you’ve fed them, it keeps you going.”
Another challenge was
strengthening hygiene measures:
disinfecting van door handles and
buying gloves and handwash –
extra costs, alongside fuel. Kind
volunteers offered to sew face
making a difference.
A ROUND OF APPLAUSE
Thousands of people have stepped up
to support others in this time of crisis.
Here are just some of the great initiatives
from the food world
lHomelessness charity Caring in Bristol
launched the Cheers Drive project,
partnering with hospitality workers to
deliver daily hot meals to people newly
housed in emergency accommodation.
l Social enterprise cookery school Cracking
Good Food in Manchester, which uses
surplus food to share cookery skills with the
community, has been fundraising to provide
free cooked meals to people in food poverty.
lThe Commit Your Commute campaign
encourages people working from home
to donate their usual travel costs to support
people struggling as a result of bar,
restaurant and venue closures, raising
funds for the charity Hospitality Action.
lFundraiser Meals for the NHS, which has
raised over £1 million pounds, uses local
restaurants and takeaways to feed hungry
people in wards at over 50 UK hospitals.
lThe Feed NHS campaign, started by a trio
of celebrities and the healthy fast-food chain
Leon, has partnered with other initiatives to
get 25,000 meals a day to critical care staff.
l Italian restaurant and deli Lina Stores in
London has raised over £26,000 to provide
meals for hospitality workers and others
adversely affected. Many other restaurants
closed due to the crisis launched their own
fundraisers to cook food for people in need.
lFood writer Jack Monroe began running a
daily Twitter surgery answering lockdown
cooking queries before co-presenting BBC’s
weekday cookery show Daily Kitchen with
Matt Tebbutt, showcasing thrifty recipes and
swaps for people at home.Do you know a community hero who deserves
to have their efforts recognised? Let us know
at [email protected]“It all started
from a notepad
and the boot
of a car”