The Jigsaw Foundation has awarded £42,770 to Humans MCR, a Manchester based community grocers on-wheels project, helping to tackle food poverty in our communities.
Funding will run over two years and will use food redistribution schemes to source local food and provide it to residents and families across Manchester at risk of food poverty.
Those using the service will pay a £5 annual membership fee and a small weekly charge for their selected groceries which will include fruit and vegetables. The weekly cost is dependent on the size of the household and all orders can be made using the online platform which will be delivered straight to our residents’ doors.
By significantly reducing the weekly grocery bill, this project allows people to focus their finances on other essentials such as rent and bills.
They will also be able to access Learn with Humans MCR – an educational programme that gives people tools and resources to learn skills through free interactive sessions, including cooking and budgeting.
Humans MCR plans to support around 13,500 residents (with 1,100 being Jigsaw residents) over the two years.
Rachel Parkinson, Project Lead at Humans MCR, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to receive this grant. This will make an instrumental difference to both Humans MCR and our beneficiaries at a time when we are in extremely high demand!”
One local resident said: “I had my first delivery today and was absolutely blown away by the quality of the produce. I’m already feeling much happier about the dark winter coming and everything suddenly seems more manageable – and I get healthy food too!”