Help to Nourish the Nation
this Christmas
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By Helen Renshaw
The cost-of-living crisis has had a devastating effect up and down the country, and this winter will be a deeply worrying time for many vulnerable people as they struggle to make ends meet. You can help fight food poverty by supporting Nourish the Nation, a Sainsbury’s programme aimed at eliminating food poverty, both now and in the future. The programme was launched in partnership with Comic Relief* last year and is already transforming many lives.
“Putting food on the table is a huge challenge, which is why we need to help those facing food poverty now more than ever”
“Sainsbury’s has a long history of supporting communities across the country, and we know how difficult the past few years have been,” says Ruth Cranston, director of corporate responsibility and sustainability at Sainsbury’s. “Putting food on the table is a huge challenge for many, which is why we need to help those facing food poverty now more than ever.”
households are at risk of going hungry in the UK today?
Did you know?
14
million
Donations will fund Feeding Britain, an award-winning network of frontline anti-hunger organisations, to develop four new affordable food clubs, providing access to fresh, healthy food to thousands of people on low incomes. And The Bread and Butter Thing, a mobile food club that delivers surplus food to local community hubs and sells it at low prices.
The situation is critical, but, with your help, we can get more food to the people who need it most.
Find out more about Nourish the Nation
Nourish the Nation from your own kitchen
Crystelle Pereira’s potato, carrot and chickpea curry tart
Make the most of selected festive veg from Sainsbury's with these seasonal recipes from Bake Off's Crystelle Pereira – Sainsbury’s will donate every penny to Comic Relief between 18-24 December 2023 for every pack purchased.
Are you looking for a crowd-pleasing veg-packed recipe to whip up over the festive season? Then look no further than this one by former Bake Off finalist and celebrity cook Crystelle Pereira. Goan curry spices bring robust, warming and comforting flavour that your guests will truly relish.
Prep time: 25 minutes Cook time: 1hr 35 minutes Serves: 8
See the recipe
Crystelle Pereira’s spiced roasted Brussels with tahini and pomegranate
Give sprouts a Middle Eastern-style twist with this dish from Crystelle Pereira – perfect for your Christmas spread. Did you know that when you buy selected festive veg (including Brussels sprouts) from Sainsbury’s between 18-24 December 2023, they’ll donate every penny to Comic Relief?
Prep time: 25 minutes Cook time: 20 minutes Serves: 6
See the recipe
Every single donation matters – here's how the whole country is coming together to make a difference
Fighting food poverty one donation at a time
123% increase in food bank use over
£2.5 million has been invested through Nourish the Nation
The number of children living in food poverty has doubled in the past year
x2
the past five years
Meet Pauline
The Larder, situated in a south Glasgow neighbourhood where many live on the breadline, is an affordable food club supported by Comic Relief and Nourish the Nation as part of Feeding Britain’s 700-strong network of frontline anti-hunger organisations.
Open two mornings a week, it’s much like any other shop – just one where nutritious produce including fresh fruit, veg and meat is sold at roughly half price. Members pay a £1 a month membership, and the goods are sold on a points system. Each point costs £1, and 10 points buys £18-£22 worth of shopping.
Since first opening its doors, Kennishead Larder has become a lifeline to 480 members, and more sign-up every day. “All sorts of people come here – families, single people, young, old, the disabled and those with mental health issues,” says Pauline. “Some were already living on the margins before the cost-of-living crisis hit and are now in desperate straits, but many are in full-time work, and still can’t make ends meet.
“And while food brings people through the door, the community aspect is just as important. We’ve become a kind of hub, where people can enjoy human connection and find advice and support with all the many issues affecting their lives”.
Pauline believes that affordable food clubs are the way forward for struggling communities across the UK, which is where Nourish the Nation comes in. “We couldn’t do it without initiatives such as Nourish the Nation,” she says. “And what we’re doing is just so worthwhile. We’re bringing back hope and making a visible change to the lives of people living through the toughest of times.”
You can’t mistake the pride in the voice of Pauline Gilgallon, the driving force behind Kennishead Larder in Glasgow, when she talks about the impact the Larder has on so many everyday people. “Maybe it’s because their health has improved through a better diet, or perhaps they just feel less lonely – either way, the change to people in this community since we opened last year is clear for all to see,” she says.
“Kennishead Larder is making a visible change to people living through the toughest of times”
Pauline Gilgallon
Hover on tiles to learn more
Development manager, Good Food Scotland
Read Pauline's full story here
Meet Michael
“The message I’d like to get across is that projects such as The Bread and Butter Thing are about so much more than tackling food poverty,” he says. “They’re bringing struggling communities back to life. Food is the key that brings communities together in many positive ways.” The Bread and Butter Thing is a Nourish the Nation-supported mobile food club that stretches budgets by delivering surplus supermarket food into the heart of struggling communities and selling it at low prices. The programme also saves food from landfill, so it’s great for the environment, too. Last year, The Bread and Butter Thing redistributed 5,000 tonnes of surplus food – the equivalent of 12 million meals – to more than 110 community locations across the UK and saved 9.5 million tonnes of CO2 by reducing food waste. At Spennymoor Youth and Community Centre, Monday’s the day The Bread and Butter Thing comes to town. The charity runs the project, it’s hosted at the centre and Michael’s role is to rally the volunteers who are essential to making it all happen.
The Bread and Butter Thing delivers the surplus food in the morning, and 20 volunteers then set about sorting and packing 240 bags of food. Each member receives three bags containing fresh fruit and veg, ambient foods and chilled foods such as fish, meat and dairy. They pay just £8.50 for their bags, but the food is worth £35. At 2pm, 80 members start turning up to collect their bags, and by 3pm it’s all over. “We’re a well-oiled machine,” says Michael. “Anyone who donates to Nourish the Nation will be helping to both put food on the tables of people struggling to get by, and reduce food waste. But the real beauty of what’s happened here is that you start with one good idea, and all sorts of other good things flow off the back of it. Donations help give volunteers a purpose, reduce social exclusion among members and bring communities together. It’s about bringing struggling communities back to life.”
Ask Michael Fishwick what’s struck him most forcefully since he started working with The Bread and Butter Thing two years ago, and he’ll tell you that it’s the power of food to bring communities together.
“Food is the key that brings communities together in so many positive ways”
Michael Fishwick
Project manager, Spennymoor Youth and Community Centre
Read Michael's full story here
14 million
5,000 tonnes of surplus
1 in 5
165 million
purchase of selected festive veg
It takes a nation to nourish one
households at risk of going hungry
food redistributed by The Bread and Butter Thing last year
households are skipping meals, going hungry or not eating for a whole day
raised by the partnership between Sainsbury’s and Comic Relief since 1999
£
*Comic Relief is the operating name of Charity Projects, a registered charity in England and Wales (326568) and Scotland (SC039730), which is a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (01806414). Registered address: 6th Floor, The White Chapel Building, 10 Whitechapel High Street, London, E1 8QS.
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Project Manager: Abby Draycott | Writer: Helen Renshaw | Commissioning editor: Rebecca Denne Photography: Dan Prince, Colin McPherson | Recipe Photography: Myles New | Food Stylist: Natalie Thomson Props Styling: Lydia McPherson | Sub editors: Tim Cumming, Viv Watts | Video and Photography Manager: Alex Kelly Creative director: Jonathan Clayton-Jones | Designer: Sylvia Szekely | Web editor: Ross Thomas
From picking up a specially marked festive sandwich to making one of our seasonal recipes by Bake Off’s Crystelle Pereira, there are so many ways you can donate to Comic Relief this Christmas through Sainsbury’s Nourish the Nation
from Kennishead Larder in Glasgow who is changing people's lives for the better
from Spennymoor Youth and Community Centre who is at the very heart of his community in County Durham
Ways you can help
Add a £1, £2, £5 or £10 donation to Comic Relief. You can also donate your clocked up Nectar points at the checkout or online
Make a donation at checkout
When you buy selected festive veg from Sainsburys between 18 and 24 December 2023, every penny will be donated to Comic Relief
Add some veggies to your trolley
Pop a tin of baked beans or some soup in your basket and drop them off at a food collection point in your local Sainsbury’s. Look out for the Nourish the Nation logo
Buy food to donate when you next shop
Buy a festive sandwich before 2 January 2024 and Sainsbury’s will donate 10p to Comic Relief to help tackle food poverty – lunch and a good deed sorted
Treat yourself to a Christmas sandwich
Pick up a Christmas decoration marked with a Nourish the Nation logo before 24 December 2023, knowing that Sainsbury’s will be donating £200,000 to Comic Relief from the profits made
Add a festive flourish to your home
Last updated on 27/12/2023
*Source: Statista
*Source: The Food Foundation
*Source: The Trussell Trust
*Source: The Food Foundation
*Source: The Trussell Trust
£250,000
£500,000
£750,000
£1,000,000
£1,250,000
£1,500,000
£1,750,000
£2,000,000
£500K
£200K
£300K
£400K
£500K
£600K
£700K
£800K
£1,999,615.60
Current total:
Scotland
£99,775.31
Wales
£45,737.28
Northern Ireland
£34,346.24
South England
£1,168,251.81
North England
£651,505.96
£250,000
£500,000
£750,000
£1,000,000
£1,250,000
£1,500,000
£1,750,000
£2,000,000
£100K
£200K
£300K
£400K
£500K
£600K
£700K
£800K
£1,999,615.60
Current total:
Crystelle Pereira’s potato, carrot and chickpea curry tart
Are you looking for a crowd-pleasing veg-packed recipe to whip up over the festive season? Then look no further than this one by former Bake Off finalist and celebrity cook Crystelle Pereira. Goan curry spices bring robust, warming and comforting flavour that your guests will truly relish.
See the recipe
Prep time: 25 minutes Cook time: 1hr 35 minutes Serves: 8
Prep time: 25 minutes Cook time: 1hr 35 minutes Serves: 8
Are you looking for a crowd-pleasing veg-packed recipe to whip up over the festive season? Then look no further than this one by former Bake Off finalist and celebrity cook Crystelle Pereira. Goan curry spices bring robust, warming and comforting flavour that your guests will truly relish.
See the recipe
See the recipe
Read Michael's full story here
Find out how to support Nourish the Nation
Sainsbury’s will donate every penny from the purchase of selected festive veg to Comic Relief between 18-24 December 2023.
Target:
Target:
£800,000
£800,000