A Plymouth charity with the belief that ‘no family should go hungry’

Provide Devon is a Christian charity providing food to people in poverty within Plymouth and the surrounding area.  

It began in 2015 under the banner ‘Community Food Share’ as a result of surplus food donations made to the Soup Run. Headed up by Plymouth woman Maddie Maddison, she linked the food share scheme with local primary schools to see if any families would appreciate the food - it quickly became clear how great the need was.

A few years later, in December 2018, after hundreds of food hampers had been supplied across the city, the charity Provide Devon was born, with the aim of giving individuals immediate relief from food insecurity while they explored longer term support through appropriate channels.

Using a combination of fresh produce and donated surplus food from retailers, a requested food parcel is usually provided to the charity’s referral agents within 24 hours. 

Provide Devon works closely with education providers from pre-school through to universities, as well as the NHS, British Red Cross, churches, charities, housing associations, Plymouth City Council, debt relief agencies and other community organisations. It continues to match the need for food with the surplus food within the community without compromising on quality.

Steve Bailey, manager, said: ‘We only work directly with referral agents, offering anonymity to families and individuals in need of food. We offer a rapid response as the people we feed will often have been experiencing food insecurity for some time.’

Within just 13 days in February this year the charity had given out 160 parcels.

Requests can be made due to financial poverty, mental health matters, bereavement or a sudden change in circumstances including being discharged from hospital.

The crisis food packages typically include milk, butter, eggs, cheese, bread, fruit, vegetables and long life items such as rice, soup and cereals. When possible the charity will also add a selection of donated toiletries.

‘The situation is hard as the scale of people in need in Plymouth is huge,’ added Steve.

‘We want to provide meaningful, nutritious meals with a positive outcome. Within the parcels we also include recipes so that people have the opportunity to make their own meals. We hope that these recipes might help people try something different with ingredients they may be unfamiliar with.’

The charity may only be three years old but it has been established for seven years thanks to Maddie’s passion to make sure no one in Plymouth goes hungry.

Maddie has been team leader for Plymouth City Soup Run for several years. Alongside her passion for supporting the homeless, she also saw the great need in Plymouth of families struggling to feed their children.

‘I was involved in the soup run in Plymouth and I found that a lot of families were coming in in times of difficulty and that really concerned me,’ said Maddie. ‘I approached my church, Hope Baptist Church, as I saw there was a need and I started Community Food Share with just one shelf in the larder for food donations. We have grown from there due to the size of Plymouth and the people that need us - and in 2018 the charity Provide Devon was formed and we moved from the church into our unit at Burrington Way.’

Funding for the vital work that the charity provides is through donations, fundraising and applying for grants. It takes between £30-35,000 each year to keep its work going - but food donations are dwindling due to the economic climate. People who may have been able to donate food or money have found themselves needing to save pennies to feed their own families.

One support worker said the service was a lifeline to the women they support.

Aerron Sargent, a Pause Practitioner, said: ‘Using Provide Devon is a lifeline for the Vulnerable women we support. Our women often must choose between paying their bills or putting food on the table. Provide gives them the opportunity to ease the worries around those decisions. The Pause team and the women we support are very grateful to have a service like Provide Devon.’

Social worker Alice Royal added: ‘The cost of living has shot up dramatically and it has made it really challenging for lots of people in society and there are an increasing number of individuals and families who do not get the luxury of having good meals or buying things they need and are regularly going hungry because they do not have the finances to buy the bare essentials. These cases used to be in the minority but nearly every case I see is facing hardship. It is very sad to see cases where people have to choose between putting gas on their meter or having dinner.

‘Provide Devon has been an amazing resource for people who are facing hardship, for whatever reason, with a reliable service in place where food can be accessed for people who need it.’