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Throughout October we’re helping raise funds for our chosen charity, Action Against Hunger. We are adding a discretionary £1 onto bills, as well as other methods to help drive support and funds.
Action Against Hunger is a global charity committed to saving the lives of malnourished children in over 40 countries.
Ahead of the partnership, THE DISH caught up with Judith Escribano, Assistant Director of Communications, at Action Against Hunger to find out more about the charity and the work that they do.
Q1)What are the main problems your organisation is tackling?
Action Against Hunger tackles hunger and malnutrition around the world. We believe it is unacceptable that, in world that produces enough food to feed its entire population, over three billion people cannot even afford the cheapest, healthy diet. Poor diets leading to malnutrition aren’t a matter of personal choice; the world’s poorest people simply cannot access or afford to eat a healthy diet. Malnutrition is a direct threat to every child’s right to good health and wellbeing. It can hold back their life changes and prospects for escaping poverty, denying them the chance to build a better future and help their communities prosper.
Q2)Where around the world do you work?
In 2020 alone, we assisted 25 million people in 46 countries around the globe. We work in some of the poorest countries around the world – from Africa to Asia, the Middle East to Latin America and the Caribbean. Due to the Covid crisis and increasing rates of poverty in the UK, we recently starting assisting people right here in Britain as well, supporting community food stores in Lewisham and Sandwell.
Q3)What are your main methods of fundraising?
We raise funds from a range of sources: members of the British public make one-off gifts or regular donations. We raise funds from trusts, foundations, big businesses and institutional sources, such as the UK government and the UN. But we also receive funding from the food and hospitality industry, for which we are incredibly grateful, especially since the sector has been experiencing such enormous challenges themselves in recent years. One of the initiatives we are particularly proud of is the Love Food Give Food campaign. This is when restaurants, pubs, and hotels agree to ask their diners to pop an extra pound on their bill to donate to our life-saving work around the world. This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Love Food Give Food campaign, which has raised £3 million and assisted over 17 million people.
Q4) How long has your organisation been helping people for?
Action Against Hunger was originally founded in France in 1979 and was registered as a charity in the UK in 1995.
Q5) What makes your job so fulfilling?
Oh my goodness: there are so many reasons why my job is fulfilling. First and foremost, I work in a sector whose aim it is to improve the lives of others. What can be better than that? Secondly, I am working for a charity with an incredible mission: to free the world from hunger. It’s immoral and disgusting that so many people are going hungry in the world right now. And it’s not due to over-population. This is due to over-consumption in some areas and an unequal distribution of resources. Sadly we live in a world where many people are driven to buy and consume as much as possible – whether that be food, drink, clothing, technology, jewellery, cars … just stuff. And all of this is at the expense of other people. The more we consume, the more other people suffer. The more carbon emissions we are responsible for emitting, the more droughts, floods and wildfires occur around the world. The more climate-related disasters around the world, the more suffering, destruction and hunger.
I am also lucky – I work in a charity with a huge number of massively committed people; it’s inspiring to work with them.
Q6)How has the pandemic affected the type of work you do?
The charity sector in general has suffered from a reduction in public donations. It’s understandable; people are suffering closer to home. We’re all living in a state of uncertainty at the moment. Sadly, the UK Government has slashed humanitarian aid to some of the world’s most vulnerable hunger hotspots. With 41 million people in the world already on the brink of famine, this will have catastrophic impacts on some of the poorest and most vulnerable people around the globe.
We are incredibly grateful to all the restaurants, donors, trusts and foundations who have continued to donate to us in these difficult times, so that we can work to eradicate hunger around the world.
Dine with D&D London this October and help raise funds for such an important cause.
