The University has recently made a considerable donation of £1,200 to local food charity, Yourcafe, following their ‘Making a Difference Locally’ scheme as part of the on-campus Nisa store.
The monetary contribution, as well as a further donation of 15 Christmas hampers and 6 crates of surplus food, were also as a result of the University’s student-designed Christmas card sales.
Yourcafe, a pay as you go food bank, is regularly supported by the University, with the partnership also including the gifting of kitchen equipment, as well as raising awareness.
Concerned about the substantial food waste in York, Margaret Hattam and Margaret Hogg founded Yourcafe in April 2015 as a way of tackling this issue. Hattam commented, “We also wanted a project which would benefit the local community. For us, it’s about both tackling food waste and promoting community spirit.”
Yourcafe feeds between 60-100 people each week and in 2018 “it saved a total of 30 tonnes of surplus food – enough to feed 41 people every day for a year.”
Diners can also take home any extra food, from bread to tinned goods and fresh veg. The initiative means no food is wasted, diners are welcome to take any extra food home, with any leftovers offered to parents at Tang Hall Primary School.
Jon Greenwood, Managing Director of York Commercial Services Ltd., states: “We are proud to have been working with Yourcafe for a couple of years now, and we always try to help them in as many ways as possible by reducing food waste and helping the local community at the same time.”
Greenwood further adds, “In such uncertain times it’s great that we’ve been able to continue supporting Yourcafe and all their amazing work, with the help of all students and staff at the University. We hope to continue supporting them in the future.”
Under Covid-19 restrictions, Yourcafe has requested that members of the community should get in touch in advance regarding the number of people in their respective households. Following this, the team at Yourcafe prepare a food bag for the household which can then be collected from Tang Hall Community Centre.
If you would like to aid Yourcafe in helping the local community, you can apply to be a volunteer here.