Food

Helping Hands is our the cost of living campaign for Manchester residents which provides lots of advice and support. To find the help for your employees, parent, carers and their families visit manchester.gov.uk/helpinghands

For those that don't live in Manchester, there are still lots of ways they to get help if they are struggling to feed themselves or their family. No-one should feel ashamed, as financial crisis can happen to anyone. Please support your colleagues and the parents and carers of your pupils by raising awareness of all the cost of living support available.

Our Manchester Food Partnership

The Our Manchester Food Partnership (OMFP) is a new partnership of social food providers (made up of affordable food schemes, food banks and community grocers) who are working together to simplify and improve the support available for residents in need across the city.

Food banks  

For those struggling to feed themselves or their family, there are currently 200 food providers working across Greater Manchester. Most of them operate on a voucher system, and for this they will need a referral from either a GP, social worker, health visitor or Citizens Advice.

But there are both referral and non-referral foodbanks. Find your nearest online at www.trusselltrust.org or www.greatertogethermanchester.org

Additional food support services

Humansmcr: Food Parcel delivery service across Manchester and Salford. Referrals online by referral agency. Email info@humansmcr.org for more information or call 0161 234 0171   

Porch Boxes: Crisis Packs available across Bury. Call 0161 761 5908  

Urban Outreach - Food Hub: Support across Bolton. Call 01204 337221  

The Rafiki Project: The Rafiki Project is an initiative by FareShare Greater Manchester and the Manchester Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Network CIC, in collaboration with Greater Manchester Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Network, to provide more culturally diverse foods to communities experiencing racial inequalities in the Greater Manchester area. They distribute surplus food from some of the UK’s top food companies to nearly 9,500 charities and community groups. 

Free school meals  

Children of your employees, parents and carers may qualify for free school meals. If they live in Manchester, they can read more information and see details about how to apply on our website. If they live outside of Manchester, they can check with their local council to see if they qualify.