Rose Hill Junior Youth club has been feeding children, young people and families in and around Rose Hill for over thirteen years.
Since our last Crowdfunder appeal in 2022, a staggering 2 million more children are now growing up in poverty in the UK.
We have been overwhelmed by the increase in children and families needing our food support.
We work with communities in two of the most deprived wards in Oxfordshire, and the worst 10% in England and Wales for child poverty.
Poverty is having a devastating effect on the health and wellbeing of our community, with families facing a heartbreaking choice between eating and heating in the coming winter.
Hunger is now our most pressing support need. Children & young people, even those eligible for Free School Meals are hungry, with limited food at home or for lunch boxes.
The pandemic & cost of living crisis has increased and intensified poverty in our community.
We've witnessed a 38% increase in families asking for help; all disproportionately impacted by food/fuel insecurity & poor health outcomes.
Hunger & poor nutrition is affecting physical & mental health - not being able to access nutritious food has multiple negative impacts on health, well-being, learning & concentration and increasing tensions in families.
In response to the increased requests for help over the last 18 months we are now supporting many adults in addition to children & young people.
We are actively expanding the range of support that we offer to include holistic well-being activities and a wider range of food support to meet the growing needs of the community.
Each year hundreds of lives are touched by and benefit from, the range & impact of our work. Our work ensures that we meet the needs of the community by offering:
- Access to hot nutritious meals during all youth club sessions, school holidays and community events.
- Essential grocery items, toiletries and good quality clothing.
- Mental health and wellbeing support in safe spaces.
- Cookery clubs, teaching the practical life skills of preparing and cooking good, healthy food.
Our services offer a vital lifeline to so many: providing support, independence, self-confidence and self-esteem. Everyone is welcomed, feels valued and respected.
How you can help:
We fundraise every single day and despite this relentless task we are struggling to keep up with costs.
Ingredients for our meals have increased in cost to £150 weekly.
Every week we feed over 120 children and young people at our after school youth clubs.
So far this year, an additional 800 meals have been taken home by children for their families.
Without your support the number of meals we’ll provide will drop dramatically in 2025 - and more children will go hungry.
The aim of our appeal is to raise £10,000.
This amount of money will go towards supporting our food costs in 2025.
Your donations will provide clean healthy nutritious food and over 7000 meals for children & families in need.
Thank you so much for reading our campaign, and thank you for supporting our work.