Unicef UK launches first domestic emergency response programme
Melanie May | 17 August 2020 | News
Unicef UK has today (17 August) launched its first ever domestic emergency response programme, aimed at supporting children in the UK during the coronavirus pandemic.
‘Food Power for Generation Covid’ is a grant-funded programme launched in partnership with food and farming charity Sustain. The joint initiative will help provide the most vulnerable children and their families with access to food during the crisis through providing grants to community food projects. It will run until February 2021.
Unicef UK has established a new partnership with Sustain’s Food Power programme, which launched three years ago to support place-based alliances across the UK in tackling local issues relating to food access and food affordability. ‘Food Power for Generation Covid’ will award grants to community food projects that reach the children and families most in need through Food Power alliances.
Funding will come from funds previously raised from Soccer Aid for Unicef. The first round of grants will be awarded this week.
Anna Kettley, Director of Programmes at Unicef UK, said:
“The coronavirus crisis is having an unprecedented impact on children’s lives – their support systems ripped apart, their education lost, their access to food impacted.
“Food Power for Generation Covid will see us partnering with local organisations across the UK for the first time in our history for a one-off emergency response, and we are delighted to be working with Food Power given their expertise and access to the people who need our support the most.
“Through these grants, we hope to reach the UK’s most vulnerable children and their families and ensure they receive the vital food support they need to eat well. Our goal is to ensure that children survive the coronavirus crisis – and thrive beyond it.”
Simon Shaw, Head of Food Poverty Programme at Sustain, added:
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“This partnership with Unicef UK and support from Soccer Aid for Unicef comes at a crucial point. Local alliances are well-placed to support their communities during the next few months and to reach those who have been hardest hit.”
About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.