*MATCH FUNDING UPDATE*

Thanks to the Lady Fatemah Trusts initial 10k match funding (thank you LFT!), our appeal is off to a great start but we still have a long way to go.

Fortunately, we have secured another 21.5k in match funding from the amazing funders below (a HUGE thank you to you all) so please donate today, whist your donations will continue to be doubled!

Beta Charitable Trust (10k)

David Cock Foundation (5k)

Zahra Trust (4k)

Salaam Centre (2.5k)

***

Ask any of our staff, volunteers and guests: this is not just a cost-of-living crisis, it's a full-blown humanitarian emergency.

We are already providing food aid to over 800 people a week (almost as many as during the peak of the pandemic) and we are expecting thousands more to be pushed into financial crisis this winter.

The stories we hear every day are utterly heart breaking.

Like 80-year-old Peter*, who is so scared to turn on his lights and heating that he sits alone in his cold, dark flat using a torch to see and has stopped using his oven to cook at all. He could hardly bring himself to speak when he met us. All he said was, "I'm done, I'm too old, I'm ready to give up now".

Or couples in their 70s like Georgie and Elisabeth*, both recently diagnosed with cancer and can't afford to top up their energy meters they need their cash to travel to the hospital for treatment. Their flat is cold, dark and dangerously damp. Georgie came to Sufra wearing flip flops on a rainy day and refused a food parcel out of sheer pride. He just wanted help managing his utility debts, even though he didn't have money for food or shoes.

Or families like Marias*, who have been cooking their meals on a make-shift fire pit in their garden every day for the past 3 months (yes, really) using anything that they can burn just to avoid turning on their gas stove.

*Names have been changed. To get an idea of how what we see and hear every day, watch this video by NEF/Greenpeace.

Aside from emergency food, we are providing these guests with benefits and housing advice and others forms of holistic support (see below) so they not only survive winter but become more financially stable and socially integrated over the next few months.

Help Our Guests Survive the Winter

Stories like these are just the tip of the iceberg.

It may be welcome news that benefits will be increasing in line with inflation, but that won't happen until April. It's too late for the people we see - some of them might not survive that long. And extra cost of living payments are simply not enough when we are seeing record falls in household income.

That's why we are asking our supporters to donate to our Surviving Winter Appeal in order to help our guests get through the winter with dignity and hope - and access the food and support they urgently need to survive.

Your Donations Will Be Doubled! We are blessed to be supported once again by the Lady Fatemah Trust, who have offered to match fund the first £10,000 of your donations.

That means every pound you donate will be DOUBLED and have twice the impact.

- £250 will pay for a Community Kitchen service, providing a freshly cooked 3-course meal for up to 100 people in need.

- £100 will cover the cost of an advice drop-in, where our Advice Team can support guests in crisis this winter.

- £30 provides a family of 4 with a food parcel and other essentials for a week.

- £10 provides 5 hot meals to one of our many homeless guests.

Without our help, this will be a dismal Christmas for our food bank guests.

We Are Doing MUCH More This Winter

Whilst many will be winding down before Christmas, this will be our busiest time of year.

Our network of food banks and community kitchens across Brent will be open throughout winter and Christmas to provide comprehensive support to our guests, by:

- Providing over 800 guests a week with food aid

- Serving 3 course meals to guests across the borough at three busy Community Kitchen sessions

- Distributing hundreds of winter coats and blankets, and 1000 hot water bottles

- Running a series of workshops to help guests manage their limited money

- Expanding our Advice Service team to help more people with benefits, housing etc.

- Hosting a Winter Fair where local residents can get hot food, advice and support whilst having fun

- Hosting a Christmas Meal on Christmas Day for 200 vulnerable and isolated people

- Handing out presents and hampers to children and adults over the Christmas period

- Running Christmas holiday activities for children in St. Raphael's Edible Garden

Campaigning for Change

The levels of hunger and poverty in our communities is simply not acceptable in a rich country. Even the United Nations have warned the UK government to do more.

Thats why we are asking our supporters to help change the rules that cause destitution in the first place. You can be part of the solution by supporting the campaigns we mention on our website here.

At Sufra, we are doing our bit to change these rules - our director recently delivered a joint petition to the Prime Minister at 10 Downing Street on ending the need for food banks with colleagues from IFAN, Trussell Trust and Feeding Britain.

Only by working together and supporting campaigns like these can we ever hope to end poverty and create a more equal society.

*please note: any donations to Justgiving during checkout are entirely optional