This autumn, we stepped up to the plate and raised over £8,000 for community foodbanks

 

This autumn we joined forces with local food banks and primary school children to celebrate Harvest Festival – raising over £8,100 for foodbanks across the UK. 

Each year, Harvest Festival celebrates the time when crops have been gathered from fields and people can reflect and show gratitude for the food that they have. It dates back to when people relied on local crops for food and famers would give thanks for a good harvest.

To celebrate this year’s Harvest Festival, residents and team members transformed their receptions into foodbank drop-off points, encouraging members of the community to join forces with our team and the residents to donate unused, or non-perishable food items. 

For every newly launched drop-off point, Care UK matched £100 – raising an impressive £8,100 which has been donated to the Trussell Trust, an anti-poverty charity and community of food banks.

But that’s not all – as well as newly launched drop-off points, residents and team members opened their doors to their local communities for some farm-tastic events. From scarecrow trails to cooking classes and educational talks, each activity ensured this long-standing tradition is not forgotten. 

At Invicta Court in Kent, residents were joined by children from Bersted Primary Academy for an a-maize-ing afternoon where they harvested crops from raised beds in the home’s garden. With the help of the home’s Head Chef, the teams made their way to the home’s kitchen where they created tomato chutney and apple sauce. 

Also welcoming youngsters into their home, were residents and team members from Mercia Grange in Sutton Coldfield, who enjoyed an afternoon learning about the origins of the festival, what it means for today’s society, and why this long-standing tradition should not be forgotten with children from Little Sutton Primary School. The residents shared their memories of how the tradition was celebrated when they were at school, before reading Harvest Festival themed poetry with the children.

At Seccombe Court, in Banbury, the home hosted a Harvest Craft Festival where residents and their families enjoyed a traditional barbecue and live music. Those attending brought along their own apples to make fresh juice using the home’s apple press. In true Harvest Festival fashion, the home also invited along three tractors from local farmers for guests to experience.

Meanwhile in Basingstoke, residents and local community groups were encouraged to get crafty to create scarecrows from scratch as part of Dashwood Manor’s third annual Scarecrow Festival. Inspired by colourful characters including Spongebob Squarepants, Alice in Wonderland and Mary Poppins, the scarecrows were judged by the Lord mayor of Basingstoke, and could be seen standing proud in Dashwood Manor’s gardens. 

In Newbury, residents at Winchcombe Place were joined by children from Winchcombe School, who spent valuable time with residents discussing food waste. Together, they explored practical ways to be mindful about food, learning from the older generation's time-tested practices. Residents shared how, in their day, they would avoid cooking too much, repurpose leftovers and create new meals with minimal waste, leaving the children inspired by their simple yet impactful ways to reduce food waste.

Up in Scotland, residents at Murrayside in Edinburgh joined team members at a Harvest Festival church service at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Across the city, Lauder Lodge residents donated food items to Edinburgh North East Food Bank, while residents at Cairdean donated items to Oxgangs Neighbourhood Centre. 

Finally, in Suffolk at Glastonbury Court, residents were joined by Sybil Andrews School children for a Harvest Festival themed church service, led by Reverand Andrew from St Peter’s Church. While residents at Mildenhall Lodge hosted a baking competition, where they made pumpkin, hedgehog and mouse shaped loaves. Members of the local community joined residents to enjoy the homemade bread, which was served with cauliflower soup, freshly made by the Head Chef.

For more information about The Trussell Trust, or to locate your nearest foodbank, visit: www.trussell.org.uk