I have been lucky enough to interview one of my neighbours, James Burton, who is the Project Director of Miracles charity, which was set up in 1994 during the Bosnian War when many civilians caught up in the fighting needed aid. Miracles now supports children living in poverty and offers 24 hour emergency support for families.
James recently had the idea to use the unused land in London to grow vegetables to feed London families experiencing poverty, but realising this was too ambitious, he recently started ‘Feed London’ which has been launched to deal with the real impacts of food poverty and how it affect children’s meals particularly during the COVID pandemic.
The project has been launched for Christmas and the hope is that if it is successful then it will be aimed at every school holiday next year. The aim of the charity is to provide fresh and healthy food into each family house. Traditional Christmas food will also be provided.
James says “ I wanted to do something to help struggling families with the impact of COVID in their lives”. He continues by saying “Feed London helps families in two distinct ways – we get fresh, healthy food into the house in time for Christmas giving the family everything they need to make a sumptuous meal on Christmas Day with enough food for at least 3 meals, as well as a supermarket voucher for £100 which they can use any how they want. In the Feed London Christmas boxes are also cake mix, Christmas crackers, recipes and treats for the children”.
I asked James what was the most challenging aspect of this project in his opinion and he replied “Getting the funding that is needed. COVID has deviated charity donations, all marathons have been cancelled, our annual fundraising cancelled and we have lost around 80% of our income and yet calls for support have increased. We haven’t got any funds for marketing and PR to help raise awareness so we are 100% reliant on the good will of others to help us raise funds.”
Whilst the response so far has been “amazing” Feed London still needs donations. A donation of £25 will help feed a family this Christmas and £5 per month will provide ongoing support to help end child hunger. Over a third of London’s children are living in poverty which equates to 700,000 children. Feed London wants to stop this.
I asked James what areas that he thinks are in most need of support and this is his reply. “London has a real issue with poverty. There are 5 boroughs which have some of the highest rates of poverty in the UK, Tower Hamlets, Newham, Hackney, Islington and Westminster. Tower Hamlets child poverty rates are over 52% which is shocking when you consider it sits next door to Canary Wharf and the City Of London, two of the richest areas in the world.”
Donating and spreading awareness of Feed London is the best way to help the charity and help tackle the problem of child poverty. I would like to thank James for answering my questions and giving his time to my interview.
If you would like to support the charity please visit the websites below.
www.Feedlondon.org
www.Miraclesthecharity.org
