Deeside food project fighting against rising poverty launches new recruitment drive
A Deeside-based food project set up to tackle food poverty has launched a recruitment drive, against a backdrop of a rise in demand for its services.
The Can Cook, Well-Fed social enterprise, which is a partnership made up of Shotton-based social enterprise Can Cook alongside Flintshire County Council and ClwydAlyn Housing Association, runs a range of initiatives to support people as the cost of living crisis bites.
Their support ranges from providing slow cooker kits and freshly prepared meals to running a mobile shop and operating warm hubs with free soup and a cuppa to support people through the winter and beyond.
Staff at Can Cook, Well-Fed are passionate about supporting people through these challenging times. They have seen a rise in the number of people seeking this sort of support, with the whole country going through freezing conditions this winter and people being forced to choose between heating and eating.
Can Cook, Well-Fed’s mission is to ensure that despite these challenges, people can still enjoy fresh meals to give them strength and sustenance.
Now it is reaching out to invite people to its recruitment open day at Deeside Enterprise Centre in Shotton from 11am to 3pm on Friday 27 January.
Talking about the recruitment event, a Can Cook, Well-Fed spokesperson said: “On the day, attendees will have the opportunity to learn about Well-Fed, its current activities and future plans, discuss a number of vacancies available in the company and talk with current staff about what it is like to work for Well-Fed.”
They added: “The aim is to offer fresh meal options to the youngest children, older people and everyone in between. We offer a fresh-chilled catering service to schools, nurseries and care facilities in addition to proving ready meals and recipe boxes to customers homes.
“Well-Fed is also all about social and environmental impact. So far, we have distributed over 60,000 meals to vulnerable households and in 2023 we will start to operate our farm to table supply chain by using foods taken directly from farms and turning them into meals fit for every dining table.”
The Can Cook, Well-Fed project is already running a series of warm hubs, including two in Deeside run in partnership with the Diocese of St Asaph. These warm hubs, offering a bowl of soup, bread roll and warming cuppa, are running in Shotton and Connah’s Quay on a Thursday and Friday.
They are running through until March and take place from 11am until 2pm on a Thursday at St Marks Parish Centre on Church Street in Connah’s Quay and from 4.30pm to 6.30pm every Friday at St Ethelwold’s Church Hall on Chester Road East in Shotton.
It’s part of the Archbishop of Wales’s Food and Fuel Campaign to tackle the cost of living crisis. St Asaph Diocese has invested £7,500 in equipment such as microwaves, soup kettles and fridges to store and heat food in both venues.
The funding is also paying for 500 freshly prepared meals which are being given out free to those who attend the warm hubs, as well money towards the cost of heating the warm hubs.
The Bishop of St Asaph, the Rt Rev Gregory Cameron welcomed the initiative, saying: “I think it hits us hard that we are facing a cost of living crisis in the wake of Covid. It is challenging to discover that even in the fifth richest economy in the world, we are having to come to terms with real and biting issues of poverty.
“I am impressed by the practical response that churches, volunteers and partner organisations are making but I hope that our politicians are also committed to the relief of poverty as a priority.”
Can Cook, Well-Fed is based on Rowley’s Business Park in Shotton and was founded by managing director, Robbie Davison.
Robbie was invited to speak in St Etholwold’s Church ahead of the warm hubs being launched, telling the congregation that good food transformed lives and communities.
He added: “If people are hungry, they do not cope well with their crisis but if you feed them good food, they are more likely to cope much better and get themselves out of that crisis.”
A statement on the Can Cook, Well-Fed website says: “So far, we have distributed over 60,000 meals to vulnerable households and in 2023 we will start to operate our farm to table supply chain – significantly reducing food miles, by using foods taken directly from farms and turning them into meals fit for every dining table.
“The aim is to offer fresh meal options to the youngest children, older people and everyone in between.”
Speaking previously about the important work of the project, Can Cook social programme manager, Faith Lightfoot echoed the words of Robbie Davison, saying: “I think like every social enterprise in this sector we have definitely noticed a steep rise in people using our services. Poverty has been entrenched for a number of years and we have been providing these services to help tackle it but it’s stretching everybody at this point.
“We are seeing more and more people who might not have previously experienced crisis. It’s no secret that people are being priced out of fresh meals.
“The main thing for us is the importance of fresh food and the difference that can make in people’s lives. If you eat well then you are going to be able to cope well and if you don’t eat well then you are not going to be able to make those decisions that can help you in a crisis.”
For further information on the Well-Fed scheme please follow this link: About Well Fed – Can Cook
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