Hackney-ites have put their money where their mouths are, raising over £13,000 through crowd funding to save eco-community kitchen Made in Hackney.
As their National Lottery funding period was due to come to an end this month, Made in Hackney took to crowdfunder.co.uk in order to raise the £12,500 needed to continue its mission to make Hackney healthier.
More than 250 backers
Before funding closed on Monday, the charity, which offers food growing and cooking classes, had smashed their target, raking in £13,280 from 257 backers over the six-week period.
Project coordinator Sarah Bentley says that now funding has been secured, there will be no let up in the service: “It means there won’t be a break, we can now just push on through and keep delivering our community classes and our courses instead of pausing while we look for more money.
“It’s been quite an emotional roller-coaster. Some weeks or days nobody donates and other days lots and lots of people donate so you never know right to the very end whether you’re going to succeed or not.
“Now we have it’s an amazing feeling. We’re really touched and humbled that people have given their money to support our project.”
Ms Bentley believes that the vast majority of that support has come from members of a local community particularly affected by the damages of a poor diet.
In 2012 it was estimated that 7.9% of Hackney residents over the age of 16 had diabetes, while a 2012 report revealed childhood obesity rates in Hackney were higher than the London and national averages.
“Most of the people tweeting it and sharing it were definitely Hackney organizations,” Bentley said.
“A deli on Broadway Market called l’eau à la bouche gave us £300 which was fantastic. The Clove Club in Shoreditch gave us £150. It’s been great that we’ve had actual cash donations from local restaurants.
“It’s a bit of an oxymoron in Hackney. We’re actually really blessed with lots of options for healthy eating. But we just also have lots and lots of options for unhealthy eating as well, so they’re kind of fighting against each other.
“It’s crazy, if you look at the figures in Hackney for obesity and diabetes, it really is an epidemic and it’s just getting bigger and bigger. The prevalence of the chicken shop in Hackney is basically a ticking time bomb with regards to the health of its residents.
“The most we can do is to give all people the skills to adapt their diet when they want to – that’s an amazing thing.”
Made In Hackney is a project of relief and development charity Ananda Marga Universal Relief Team UK. They have been running healthy eating and environmental awareness classes at their base in Cazenove Road since October 2012.
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*This piece originally stated that Made In Hackney’s “National Lottery funding was withdrawn”, it has been amended to state that “their National Lottery funding period was due to come to an end this month.”
