Nearly 26,000 meals donated as part of Big Christmas Food Appeal 2022

By Shona Gossip

January 10 2023, 6:00 am

Thank you! The final totals for the Big Christmas Food Appeal 2022 are in - and exceeded all expectations. Image: DC Thomson Graphics.

Nearly 26,000 meals will be distributed across the north and north-east this winter thanks to you – our generous readers and listeners.

The Big Christmas Food Appeal – a collaboration between The Press and Journal, Evening Express, Energy Voice and Original 106 – has been a huge success, surpassing all expectations for the second year in a row.

On Christmas Eve, we revealed that 8,800kg of food – the equivalent of 20,952 meals – had already been collected as part of our six-week campaign to tackle food poverty this winter.

But we knew there was more to add to that count, with the final donations from our drop-off point at Aberdeen’s Trinity Centre to be weighed up.

Today we can reveal that thanks to your generosity, a total of 10,900kg of food has been collected for Cfine – the equivalent of an incredible 25,952 meals.

Financial donations through our JustGiving page also continued throughout the holidays, and now sit at £8,387.

This includes money raised by theatre company Ten Feet Tall’s radio production of An Aberdeen Christmas Carol, which was exclusively streamed through The P&J website after it aired on community station Shmu.

Rainbows in Pitmedden worked hard to collect for the Big Christmas Food Appeal. Image: Wullie Marr / DC Thomson

Other big supporters of the Big Christmas Food Appeal 2022 were:

Stephen Taylor, owner of McNasty’s in Aberdeen, who donated £900 of food
Peterhead-based Current Commercials, who donated an electric van to Cfine for their busy festive delivery period
Fans of The Proclaimers, who donated to our bucket collection at The P&J Live
Rainbows, Brownies and Guides units from across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Inverness
Scouts groups from Cults and Banchory

Sophie Morrison, development worker for Connecting with Communities – Aberdeenshire, a mobile foodbank that helps rural communities get access to food. Image: Kath Flannery/DC Thomson

Aid will go to local communities

We teamed up with Cfine once again for the campaign as they support foodbanks across Grampian, the Highlands and islands – ensuring your donations go to the people in your communities who need them most.

One such initiative is Connecting with Communities, which helps rural communities get access to essentials. Volunteers are needed to further expand the scheme this year.

Slow cookers, hot water bottles, grills and a kettle have also been received.

As well as collecting donations, an important part of The Big Food Appeal is highlighting the help that is available in our communities, and debunking some of the myths – and stigma – that remains around foodbanks.

With more and more people likely to need help this year due to the cost of living crisis, the P&J will continue championing the efforts of those making a difference.

If you know of a foodbank or group that should be added to our interactive map below, please e-mail livenews@pressandjournal.co.uk