Feeding Families - The Evolution Of A Campaign

A couple of weeks ago the UK, and Twitter, went mad thanks to photos of the depressing and inadequate £30 lunch boxes being distributed to families in need.

We all got mad and shouted a lot. Then my friend and client John Magee got in touch to say we should actually do something.  His idea was to get people buying £30 worth of food and sharing images on social.  We can do this we thought.

At the same time Simon Wood had started sharing recipes for quick, easy meals using limited ingredients. So we got in touch and after a few voice notes we had a campaign.

Simon’s recipes really struck a chord and it was quickly clear that they were what people wanted to see. We all knew the £30 boxes weren’t good enough but the government seem to have fixed that problem.

But the provision of support and education and ideas is still poor. Cooking with tins and limited provisions, either from food banks, the lunch boxes, vouchers or your own money, can still be varied, nutritious and most importantly taste good.  Everyone just needs ideas and Simon has bags of them.

So we shifted the focus of the campaign from the food boxes to be very much about the recipes and what great, tasty meals you can make with £30 worth of food.

Quite quickly we gathered momentum. Food banks and community groups asked if they could print out Simon’s recipes, people also asked where they could find them all in one place.

So we (me believe it or not!) have built an online resource – Feeding Families With Simon Wood – which we are constantly updating as Simon sends us recipes. The Spam Biryani is already iconic! Check it out.

Feedback from food banks has enabled us to develop the recipes. They told us that many people cook with just a microwave or kettle so Simon has created the appropriate recipes.

Also we are very aware that everyone isn’t on social media so the amazing people at Monster Outdoor (outdoor media specialists, delivering out of home advertising and marketing campaigns) donated an ad van today to take our message and Simon’s Spam Biryani recipe to the streets! The video is playing outside supermarkets all over the city today – let us know if you spot it.

The support we have been lucky enough to receive so far has been amazing.  From chefs to celebs, media and friends and social networks, Manchester has got behind the campaign. For that we thank you.  It’s so good to see that PR and social media can do great things.

We want to take it to the next step and create a printed resource to support people who don’t have access to the internet regularly. That will cost cash so we are on the hunt for a sponsor if anyone reading this can offer any help.