Aberdeen Lord Provost lives on £2 a day in poverty campaign

ABERDEEN'S Lord Provost George Adam will live on £2 a day this week as part of a campaign to highlight food poverty in the city and raise funds to support those in need.

Aberdeen Lord Provost George Adam launches poverty campaign. Picture: Contributed

He will take part in ‘Appetite for Change’ organised by Community Food Initiatives North East (CFINE) from today to Friday with only £10 to cover all food and drink over the five day period.

The charity has been signing up volunteers to take on the challenge of living on just £2 a day for 5 days to support the cause and help raise funds for CFINE.

In the past year, CFINE’s Food Bank has given out more than 10,000 emergency food parcels and expects this will rise to over 15,000 due to local economic conditions.

CFINE also supplies food to over 180 partner organisations in the North East which, in turn, have provided around 30,000 emergency parcels to people facing food poverty over the past year.

The Lord Provost, who was first in line to sign up to the campaign, said: “Sadly there are many people in our city facing challenging financial situations and I’m so grateful that we have organisations like CFINE here to help them when they need it the most.

“Many of us take it for granted that we have enough to eat, so by taking part in Appetite for Change, I hope to highlight the very real problems faced by people in our communities everyday who struggle to feed themselves and their families.”

CFINE’s Chief Executive Dave Simmers said: “The last 18 months has seen a staggering increase in the demand for our support services as many families are finding themselves in a position where they are unable to afford enough food and in need of emergency food parcels and financial support, due to current challenging circumstances.

“Many are choosing to ‘eat or heat’ and parents are going without to feed the kids.”

All funds raised through the campaign will go directly towards tackling food poverty and improving the circumstances of local vulnerable and disadvantaged people.

Those wishing to support the campaign can donate by searching for Appetite for Change on www.justgiving.com

CFINE is a charity and social enterprise which improves health and well-being, contributes to the environment, increases employability and creates employment for and with many thousands of disadvantaged and vulnerable individuals, families and communities in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire.

CFINE does this through various services and support including Community Food Outlets, FareShare, supports food banks, training, recruiting and supporting volunteers and most recently a community training kitchen, ‘Cook at the ‘Nook’.

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