The organisers of the world’s biggest charity gaming event have pledged a six-figure sum to back our Winter Survival Appeal to tackle food insecurity, as a food charity boss warned of “the highest demand ever this winter” and the bottom 20 per cent of society being “cut adrift”.
As part of our Christmas drive, Jingle Jam anticipate raising around £250,000 for our partnership with Comic Relief, with the money intended for Britain’s biggest food redistributor, FareShare, one of our appeal’s chosen recipients, who will use it to provide one million additional meals this winter.
The Jingle Jam event starts today and runs for two weeks, bringing together gamers, content creators and streamers to have fun and raise money for charity.
It brings the total donations and expected pledges to our campaign to £1.25 million, including £500,000 each from Sainsbury’s and Comic Relief.
Rich Keith, Jingle Jam’s chair, said: “We are concerned about the impact of food insecurity on young people — that’s why we are partnering with Comic Relief and the Evening Standard. We are bringing together hundreds of gamers and streamers with the aim of raising enough money to fund one million meals with FareShare to support people struggling to access nutritious food over the challenging winter months ahead.”
George Wright, CEO of FareShare, said: “This winter is by far the highest demand we have ever experienced. With food inflation of 26 per cent over the last two years and wages not keeping up, the bottom 20 per cent of our society is being cut adrift.”
Wright, who grew up on the impoverished Drumchapel housing estate in Glasgow, said that nearly 14 million people suffer food insecurity, but added that it is often individual stories that move us most. He said: “I visited an after-school club, one of the helpers told me about kids coming in hungry. She said Monday is the worst day because often children have barely eaten over the weeken
He added: “We support more than 8,500 charities, including after-school clubs, community centres, faith groups and food banks, and we have 1,500 further charities on our waiting list. With Christmas coming, many parents who use these charities are not thinking, what presents can I buy my kids? But rather, how can I feed my kids?”
In a nutshell
We have partnered with Comic Relief to launch our Winter Survival Appeal Christmas Campaign, with Comic Relief pledging £500,000 to kick off our fund. The money we raise will help fund charities in London and across the country helping people who are struggling with the cost of living crisis
To make a donation, visit comicrelief.com/wintersurvival
