How Your Food Business Can Partner with Local Charities to Help Feed Disadvantaged People

In an era of rising living costs and growing food insecurity, many individuals and families in our communities are struggling to put meals on the table. 

As a food business—whether you run a restaurant, café, catering company or bakery—you’re in a unique position to make a meaningful difference. 

Partnering with local charities to help feed disadvantaged people is not only socially responsible; it’s also good for community relations and your brand reputation.

Here’s how your business can start making an impact today.

1. Build Relationships with Local Charities

Start by identifying charities and community organisations in your area that focus on food provision. This could include food banks, soup kitchens, shelters, community fridges, and churches or mosques that run meal programmes. Reach out and have a conversation about their needs—some may need regular surplus food donations, while others might benefit from one-off events or cooked meals.

Examples in the UK include:

FareShare

The Trussell Trust

FoodCycle

The Felix Project (London)

Community fridges via Hubbub

2. Donate Surplus Food Responsibly

If your business regularly ends up with unused stock or prepared food that’s still safe to eat, consider setting up a structured donation programme. Work with charities that can collect your surplus or coordinate with a volunteer network. Be sure to follow all food safety guidelines and check if your business is covered by the UK’s Good Samaritan food donation protections.

Some platforms like Too Good To Go or OLIO also help businesses redistribute food that would otherwise go to waste.

3. Offer Skills or Services

Your team’s skills can be just as valuable as food donations. Consider volunteering your chefs for cookery workshops at community centres, or helping charities create nutritious, low-cost meal plans. You could host fundraising dinners or pop-up events, donating the profits to food charities.

4. Sponsor or Support Community Meals

Many charities host regular community meals for those in need. Partnering with them to sponsor a meal—or providing the venue, ingredients, or staff—can make a big difference. These events don’t just feed people; they create spaces for connection and dignity.

5. Run a “Pay It Forward” Scheme

Consider starting a “Pay It Forward” initiative where customers can purchase a meal or hot drink in advance for someone in need. Display this clearly in your premises or online, and coordinate with a local charity to redeem them.

6. Raise Awareness and Encourage Donations

Use your business's visibility to raise awareness about local hunger issues. Display collection bins for food or essentials, share charity appeals on social media, or add an optional donation to your checkout process (especially for online orders).

7. Build Long-Term Partnerships

Consistency is key. While one-off efforts are helpful, long-term partnerships with charities allow you to create sustainable impact. Establish regular donation schedules, co-branded campaigns, or annual charity events. This also gives your staff and customers a sense of purpose and involvement.

Food is one of the most powerful ways to care for others. As a food business, you’re in a position of influence and opportunity. Working with local charities not only helps address food poverty in your community—it shows your customers and your staff that you’re committed to doing good.

By sharing what you have—whether it’s ingredients, time, space, or skills—you can help bring dignity, warmth, and nourishment to those who need it most.

Children In Need and Asda work together to combat food poverty

BBC Children in Need & George at Asda have announced their second collaboration with world famous children’s author and illustrator Liz Pichon, famed for her illustrated best-selling Tom Gates book series, to create this year’s Official T-Shirt, which will raise money for the charity.

This unique unisex t-shirt features BBC Children in Need’s iconic Pudsey Bear character in Liz’s signature doodle style. 

This is the second t-shirt Liz has designed for BBC Children in Need and Asda. This year, all money raised through the sale of the t-shirts will go to support children and young people facing food insecurity, as part of Asda and BBC Children in Need’s Fuelling Potential campaign.

Throughout the summer holidays, Asda have been offering £1 meals to all children who visit the Asda café and half price adult meals from 3pm each day. In selected Asda Stores they have also been hosting Pudsey Clubs – where children have been able to take part in fun and creative activities.

Over the next three years Asda & BBC Children in Need aim to support 100,000 children by helping to make sure they have access to nutritious meals while having fun at BBC Children in Need funded holiday sessions that help boost their mental health and physical wellbeing.

Liz and a group of Community Champions from Asda stores across Manchester recently hosted a special session for children and young people to teach them how to doodle and encourage them to get fundraising for BBC Children in Need this year.

Liz Pichon said: “I'm absolutely thrilled to have been asked to design the BBC Children in Need T-shirt for the second time!

“Pudsey is iconic and last year's design was all around Pudsey, this year it's mostly inside with a slightly retro feel, lots of gorgeous colours PLUS we've added gold disco foil! I'm really proud to be part of this year's launch and want to encourage everyone to buy one…you can even colour the design in and get extra creative!"

Claire Hoyle, Director of Income, Marketing & Communications at BBC Children in Need said: “It is an absolute pleasure to have collaborated with the wonderfully talented children’s author and illustrator, Liz Pichon, for the second time on our Official T-Shirt with George & Asda this year. Liz’s design is fun and creative, and we know that our supporters will love it. This t-shirt will raise vital funds for children and young people across the UK when they need it most!”

Vicki Radford, Buying Manager, George at Asda said, “We are delighted to have Liz Pichon on board for the second year running to design the Official BBC Children in Need T-Shirt for George & Asda. It’s a joy to work with Liz who really brings her creativity to life through these designs and we know they are going to be really popular with our customers, these are now on sale from as little as £5.”

The Official T-Shirt is available to purchase now online at George.com and in stores soon, in both adult and child sizes (£5 - £10) with all profits from the sale of the t-shirt going to BBC Children in Need.

Besides the Official T-shirt, Liz has also designed a mug (£2) and a tote bag (£3) featuring her doodle Pudsey design which are also available to purchase in store and online at George at Asda from 26th October.

George at Asda also have a fully adaptive wear range of clothing for children which includes a baby bodysuit, a sweat jogger and top set and also an adaptive version of Liz Pichon’s official design jersey top. The range has been created for children who need extra assistance when dressing, and have reduced mobility - all garments have been thoughtfully designed to make dressing easier and more accessible. 

The range has been designed with peg feeding tube holes, fully opening hook and loop fastenings at the neck, waist and ankles, higher backs on all trousers for wheelchair users. In addition, all garments are suitable for those with sensory issues as they all use soft threads and the scratchy care labels have been replaced with printed ones.

There is also a Pudsey tee which features a Braille and sign language graphic across both children’s and adult sizes - with the children’s style featuring the adaptive credentials too. The adaptive range is available from £4.50 for the baby bodysuit starting from 1st size and the children’s clothing starts at £4 for the jersey top - available from age 1-16yrs - with a minimum of 20% of the price of each product goes to BBC Children in Need charity.

Asda have been a partner of BBC Children in Need for 23 years raising over £31 million.

Liz Pichon’s new book, Tom Gates Five Star Stories has also been launched. Get ready for the ultimate FIVE STAR read and find out what happens when Tom and other fan-favourites in his class are challenged to write their funniest story.

www.asda.com