Month: September 2023

A recent survey of 9,000 teachers by our partners, FareShare, found that concern for hungry pupils led to one in four bringing food into school, with over a third saying that their schools regularly provided food support to children and their families.

Worryingly, the report highlighted that the highest proportion was in the South West, where 29.4 per cent of teachers said they had personally provided food for pupils during the 2023 summer term. This compared with 28.7 per cent in the North West, 25.7 per cent in Yorkshire and Humber, and 25.6 per cent in the Midlands.

FareShare has said that without access to more food the majority of the charities it supports may have to reduce their services, impacting families across the UK, and they’re calling on the Government to fund food surplus redistribution to get good food to people, not waste. You can view their call via this link.

You can read more about the report’s findings via this link, but if you’d like to support Exeter Food Action’s efforts to address the challenges faced by so many struggling families and individuals in Exeter and across Devon, please consider a donation, however small.

We’re determined, as ever, to rise to the challenges of food insecurity but we can’t do this without the kindness and generosity of our friends and supporters. Please help if you can, which you can do easily by following the donation button below.  

Thank you.

Exeter Food Action is now a potential recipient of funds raised through the Exeter Community Lottery. Draws take place every Saturday and ticket holders have a one in fifty chance of winning something, with a top prize of £25,000. From every £1 ticket purchased, 60p goes to local good causes in Exeter, and Exeter Food Action could be one of them.

If you’d like to have a chance of winning and of supporting Exeter Food Action at the same time, simply head over to EFA’s Exeter Community Lottery page and click on ‘Buy Tickets‘.

Good luck!

In between delivering food the weight of almost two Airbus A320 passenger planes (see previous news item), our hardworking EFA team also finds time to rest and play. On 14th September, thanks to an invitation from Topsham Rugby Club, and with the expert coaching of EFA volunteer, Dave Turner, a group comprising volunteers, friends, staff and a trustee, boldly went where none had gone before and took to the pitch for an evening taster session of walking rugby.

Although slightly daunted at playing alongside the wonderfully named Topsham Fossils, winners of the inaugural 2018 Devon Walking Rugby Festival, the 2019 National Vintage Games, the 2022 Crediton Fun Cup, the 2022 Crediton Fair Play Award and the 2022 Withycombe WR Cup, thanks to Dave’s patient tuition our team fared well, and no injuries were sustained.

Walking Rugby is one of England Rugby’s non-contact formats of the game and, much to our team’s delight, all slightly anxious at the prospect of the bruises, bumps and scary looking scrums seen in proper rugby, walking rugby’s quite different. There’s no tackling, no scary scrums, no line outs and no kicking, just ‘touch’ tackles, with the game played on a much smaller pitch and participants walking at all times. It was all about fitness and fun, and fun was had by all.

Huge thanks to Topsham Rugby Club for the opportunity. We’ll be back!