Technology helps charities feed the hungry in lockdown

More than 6,500 charities use CAF Donate to raise funds online and process their donations. It is a simple, cost effective way to manage fundraising and signing up is free. Learn more about CAF Donate.

City Harvest’s mission is simple – they support the thousands of Londoners who go hungry each day, just as safe, healthy and usable food risks going to waste.

A mid-sized charity founded in 2016, City Harvest collects surplus food from a number of sources within the food industry. These include restaurants, grocers, manufacturers, wholesalers, hotels and caterers. This food is then distributed to organisations that provide meals to vulnerable people be they homeless shelters, soup kitchens, children’s programmes, centres for the elderly, and refuges for women experiencing domestic violence.

The charity is committed to redistributing nutritious food to the people who need it, as well as doing so in a sustainable way. Their commitment to solving the issues behind hunger goes beyond just food donation. Many of their warehouse staff, drivers and volunteers have experienced the struggles of homelessness and hunger first-hand and their passion for helping others has strengthened the mission of City Harvest.

How did COVID-19 affect hunger in London?

COVID-19 has created a number of unique challenges and led to an increase in demand for City Harvest’s services. This was particularly pronounced during the initial phase of stricter lockdown measures. A number of factors, including increased unemployment, housing insecurity for people living in rented accommodation and people shielding of self-isolation were behind this increase in demand.

An estimated 1.5 Million people in the UK faced food poverty at the height of lockdown measures - with low-income areas in London among the worst affected.

The reality that City Harvest faced during COVID-19 highlights the fundamental challenge facing most charities in recent months. At a time when their services have never been in more demand, their normal fundraising methods were no longer viable. How do you reconcile scaling up services whilst facing a shortfall in funding?

‘We were on the front lines. We were emergency workers. We had to fundraise - hence CAF.’

What were the fundraising challenges facing City Harvest?

‘It’s hard work. We were pushed to our limits.’

City Harvest needed an urgent new solution to overcome it’s fundraising shortfall and ensure they would be there when they were needed most.

Previously, City Harvest had relied primarily on the generosity of a small group of High Net Worth Individuals (HNWI). While this strategy allowed them to grow, its limits meant that the leadership at City Harvest needed to look at alternatives.

‘We didn’t have the people to do the outreach and get the engagement going.’