It is always good to reflect at the beginning of the year, to see what has been achieved and set aims for the year ahead. So we thought we would share our successes as we look back over the past 12 months. It was a journey with many milestones and successes with a lot of people who have helping us on the way.
After the pandemic, 2022 was a welcomed year of fantastic live in person events; offering the opportunity to meet with individuals from across the UK, to discuss our vital work and raise awareness of the ever growing crisis of food poverty. Events attended included, The Game Fair, Fakenham Races, the inaugural Stalking Show, amongst others.
In early November, The Glorious Game generously held an auction led by William Sitwell in aid of The Country Food Trust at the Holland and Holland Shooting Grounds. People travelled across the globe to feast on the food of big name chefs, Joshua Hunter, Mark Kempson, Valentine Warner and Leon Challis-Davies.
Other hosted events that raised vital funds on our behalf also have our thanks: Lampart Hall, County Deer Stalking and school notices clay competition. We extend our sincere thanks for their support, and generosity towards the CFT in the past year.
Industry retailers have also provided welcome support through their customers. Customer donations at the till have been a wonderful way for us to receive donations and we are grateful to; Wild meat company, Deer box, Chisel smokery and MC Kelly for facilitating this for their customers.
We conducted two appeals during the year. The Ukraine appeal raised enough funds to send 23,000 meals as part of Operation Manna, facilitated by HIS Church. This meant food went straight to the heart of the country directly to the people that needed them most. We thank all who donated to help ease the plight of the Ukrainian people.
The Winter Appeal is on course to raise £100,000 to feed people around the country this winter. The first batch of the meals are already in production for imminent distribution.
Since the CFT’s inception we have donated over 2.8 million meals to food banks, charities and community kitchens across the UK. In the year 2022 alone we donated 1,449,734 pouches, and an incredible 148 tonnes of meat. We have reached more charities than ever, through a combination of seeking to help even the smallest rural foodbanks who are struggling to cope with demand. Thanks to our ambassador network for helping with on the ground intel to ensure we reach as many people as possible.
We launched the Wild Venison Project, along with our patron Chef Mike Robinson, to celebrate the abundance of wild venison as a sustainable and high protein meat which can be used to feed families in crisis. The Telegraph have released a fascinating article covering the issue and what we are achieving. The event hosted at Braxted Park, was filmed and is available to view on our website.
Our online shop, is now open, meaning our supporters can purchase our food pouches with ease either donating these straight to their food bank of choice or using them for their own consumption. This is another avenue for supporters to donate to the charity by investing in our branded water bottles, tote bags, badges and much more.
Our incredible supporters undertook extremely tough person challenges in 2021 in order to raise money for The Country Food Trust. Nicholas Hazel ran the London Marathon and Imogen Donaldson completed RideLondon. Ambassador’s Henry Rossiter and Sophie Green did a Sleep Out in temperatures of -4 degrees. At the beginning of the year, our patron Phil Spencer completed his Extreme Norway Challenge, with temperatures of -35 to contend with. Together they raised thousands for The Country Food Trust. Thank you.
We are grateful for the continued support of our corporate key supporters, who annually donate funds. We are also grateful to the Ambassadors new and established, who do a wonderful job, raising awareness, fundraising and helping to distribute meals to foodbanks in their areas.
2023 is to be a year of growing awareness and raising funds that will enable us to continue in our mission to feed people in need across the UK.
We cannot thank everyone enough for their continued support and unmatched generosity we had in 2022.