26th May 2020 / VOL 5
Dear Neighbour,
We hope you had a lovely bank holiday weekend! ☀️
With your help we’re continuing to make fantastic progress in supporting local people in need of food aid. Last week we:
Packed and delivered food & essential aid to 205 local households (over 1,070 since lockdown began)
Supported 576 people (including 226 children) within the local community
We’re so humbled by what we’ve achieved together so far, and we really need your continued support to keep going. Please continue to help so we can keep feeding local families in need during this lockdown. If you know anyone in need of support, please do send them our way.
One of our fabulous volunteer drivers, Amir, who has been with us from the beginning!Another brilliant volunteer driver, Nick, with his adorable kids who love to help their Dad!
Spotlight on our delivery drivers
At Mutual Aid Food Willesden, we rely on the generous support of local volunteer drivers in order to deliver the emergency food aid parcels to everyone that needs them.
We are so thankful to have such a fabulous team of dedicated drivers, who work tirelessly to ensure that families receive the food they need and don’t go hungry during lockdown.
Here’s one of our local heroes, Amir, to tell you more.Have you noticed changes as a result of Covid-19 lockdown?
“How quickly the people mobilised with a collective thought before the government did:we are stronger together.
I have seen with my own eyes, the true divide between rich and poor.
I have seen that the majority of the country needs help rather than the minority.”
How are you involved in providing essential aid?
“I help in a few different ways. Mainly I am a volunteer driver, dropping off aid wherever it is needed, and I also use my connections with other kitchens. For the local Mutual Aid group, I help with the basic shopping and prescription delivery.For MAFW, I collect and drop off a big shop or food surplus and deliver aid to people who need it all over London.
I also deliver hot meals from the amazing Daksha (who also set up food aid during Covid-19).
We are also working towards setting up a new halal aid kitchen.”
Can you share any stories?
“One of the first deliveries for MAFW that I did was to a large family and I don’t think I have ever seen anyone more grateful.
It was about four boxes worth because of the size of the family and all of them wanted to try and help bring it in and say thank you.I am thrilled to help make such a difference to their lives.”
NEW - #JoinUsForDinner
This week we are launching an exciting new campaign! We would like to encourage you to show your support to the local families in need of food and essential aid and invite them to#JoinUsForDinner.It’s super simple to get involved:
Set an extra place at your table to symbolise your support and take a photo
Make a donation on our Local Giving page to enable a family in need to ‘eat with you’, and take a screenshot of your donation
Upload both photos to your social account, tag 3 friends to do the same and use the hashtag #JoinUsForDinner. Don’t forget to tag us too! @MutualAidFoodWillesden (Instagram) or @MAFoodWillesden (Facebook)
We can’t wait to see your photos and see how far this important message of support can go! With your help, we can make a real difference! 🙌🍽🍲
Update - Danny's marathon
Last week we introduced you to Danny from Ashford Place and his 26 mile fundraising marathon through all the wards where Mutual Aid Food Willesden is supporting households and people in need.
Danny completed his marathon on Monday in 5 hours and 27 minutes! And with your help, he has raised over £1,000! All funds will go directly to Mutual Aid Food Willesden as his thank you for our support of the Ashford Place residents during lockdown.
Danny, you are AMAZING! Well done and thank you so much!! 👏🏃♂️🏆
Success story
We are over the moon and so humbled to have received this Certificate of Recognition from Brent Council, for all the work that Mutual Aid Food Willesden have been doing!
Please join us in congratulating all our fantastic volunteers - and thank YOU for enabling us to keep doing what we're doing! 🙌❤️👏