You've heard of the 3 Peaks Challenge, well on Friday 8th September a group of great friends and I will be taking on the considerably harder Lake District 10 Peak Challenge. We will be climbing the major peaks of the Scafell Range, including Scafell Pike itself. We will walk 14.5 miles (23.3km) with ~5,479ft (1,670m) of uphill.  This challenge is in aid of The Country Food Trust, a UK food poverty charity very close to my heart.

The Country Food Trust is a food poverty charity that raises funds to provide meals to feed people in need.  The on-going squeeze in household budgets, caused by rising food and energy prices, means that more people than ever before are turning to their local foodbanks for help.  With foodbanks now outnumbering McDonalds outlets, demand is up 100% while donations are reportedly down by 70%.  

The Country Food Trust distributes high protein nutritious meals to foodbanks for people in need.  They also donate raw meat to community kitchens and larger foodbanks that have relevant storage and cooking facilities. 

The  Country Food Trust wants to deliver hundreds-of-thousands of meals in support of its mission to get people fed.  The Trusts, nutritional, high protein pouches and pallets of fresh frozen meat are in high demand, welcomed by the hundreds of foodbanks it supports directly.  The more money the Trust raises the better able it is to secure the best prices for its bulk purchases of venison, game meats and turkey.  Every tonne of meat bought by the Trust feeds more than 10,000 people. 

SJ Hunt, CEO of The Country Food Trust, said “1 in 5 people in the UK live in poverty, 31% of which are children”.  

I do hope that you are able to give generously (by all means sponsor an amount per peak if you wish - please just mention this in the commentary) so that the Trust can feed those families at the sharp end of the cost of living crisis.  By making a donation you will be helping to ensure that anyone in danger of going hungry can access a balanced diet, one that is rich in protein – the most expensive and difficult nutrient for foodbanks to secure.