News
2024
bruntPUD!
We were delighted to partner with Bruntwood SciTech for the festive season producing festive bruntPUDs! Using a Cracking Good Food recipe (nutritionally balanced obviously!) hundreds of bruntPUDs have been hand-packed by the team at Bruntwood SciTech and shared with foodbanks and others as part of a mission to feed thousands across Greater Manchester this winter.
Huge thanks to Olly Storr, Community Engagement Manager at Bruntwood SciTech, (pictured with our CEO Tracey) for making this happen.
Kitchen Kit Redistribution Event 6 at Freight Island, December 2024
1.4 tonnes of pre-loved kitchen kit were redistributed at our latest event at Freight Island. This brings the campaign total to 9.5 tonnes of kit redistributed to 196 community organisations reaching 23281 people saving 112 tonnes of embodied carbon emissions from waste. It was a huge team effort with a record 48 organisations coming together as bin hosts or volunteers to deliver the event.
For the first time four other GM charities and social enterprises and the Greater Manchester Fire Service were invited along to share the services they provide with the attending community organisations. The Lord Mayor of Manchester Cllr Paul Andrews and the Lady Mayoress were also in attendance with the event filmed for a GMCA video promoting Circular Economy initiatives in Greater Manchester, see right.
Find out more about the Kitchen Kit Campaign here.
Spirit of Manchester Community & Business Collaboration Award Winners 2024
We are thrilled to have won the inaugural Spirit of Manchester 2024 Community and Business Collaboration Award, alongside our friends and partners the Microsoft NW Social Impact Team.
The annual awards organised by MACC (Manchester Community Central) celebrate the work of voluntary organisations, community groups, charities and social enterprises in Manchester. Winners in the different categories are voted for live on the night by those attending the awards ceremony and watching the livestream.
The award recognises the partnership that has developed between Cracking Good Food and Microsoft including: helping to construct our Growing Corner to grow food for use in cooking projects; commissioning our ethical catering service; promoting our work to their clients and partners; and most significantly delivering the Kitchen Kit Call Out Campaign. With the Social Impact Team’s support this has now grown to distribute 8.1 tonnes of donated kitchen kit to 158 community organisations, benefitting an estimated 19,000 people across Greater Manchester.
See our short Spirit of Manchester nomination video here.
Kitchen Kit Redistribution Event 5
8.1 tonnes of kitchen kit, an estimated 19000 people reached across Greater Manchester, 95.5 tonnes of embodied carbon emissions saved from landfill. These are the headline campaign figures following our biggest kitchen kit redistribution event yet held in June, only made possible by the amazing support of all the funders, bin hosts and volunteers.
Demand was overwhelming for the event with all spaces taken within three days by GM community organisations. Unfortunately unless we can secure additional support this may also be the last Kitchen Kit Call Out. Find out more about the campaign here.
Listen to BBC Radio Manchester’s report on the event here (scroll to 2h 52m) and read the BBC News feature here.
Introducing Jeff Smith MP to Cracking Good Food
We were pleased to welcome Jeff Smith MP for Withington and Alison Green from Manchester Airport to Maggie’s Manchester to find out more about our ‘Where Now?’ project informing and empowering centre users on healthy eating through their cancer recovery. Also to enjoy some of the freshly made bean and veg chilli on offer!
The visit follows our recent award from the Manchester Airport Community Trust Fund to support our Kitchen Kit Call Out campaign – redistributing pre-loved kitchen equipment back into the community.
Thanks to Robin and the team at Maggie’s for hosting.
Alison Green, Community Engagement Co-ordinator at the airport, Robin Muir Centre Head & Clinical Psychologist at Maggie’s and Jeff Smith are pictured with Cracking Good Food’s Molly and Tracey.
Manchester Airport Community Trust Fund award
Big thank you to the Manchester Airport Community Trust Fund for their award of £1500 to support our Kitchen Kit Call Out campaign. The money will be used to buy essential equipment to support the project, which has already collected and redistributed 6.9 tonnes of pre-loved kitchen kit benefitting an estimated 12,000 people.
CGF’s Tracey and Debbie, Alex Croft, Occupational Therapist Debs Hughes from Munro Therapy Services are pictured receiving the giant cheque from Robert Pattison, Head of Community Engagement at Manchester Airport.
The Fund has donated more than £4m in the 27 years since it was founded. Groups based within 10 miles of the airport are able to bid for funding for initiatives with a clear and lasting community benefit. We are amongst 22 charities and not for profit groups awarded grants in the latest round. Find out more about the Trust Fund and the other fantastic recipients here.
Lunch with Joe Wicks!
We joined The Body Coach, Joe Wicks, to promote healthy eating at the MOVE Manchester festival at Factory International. This was Joe’s biggest ever fitness and wellness event with a full weekend of workouts, activities and pop-ups. Live cooking demonstrations with Cracking Good Food showcased Joe’s nutritious, real life recipes. For Sunday lunch he joined Kala and Sandra to cook Chorizo & Prawn Stir Fry – a great session of delicious food, healthy hacks and contagious enthusiasm. See a taster here.
Kitchen Kit Call Out Redistribution Event 4!
We were delighted to welcome The Big Issue to our 4th Kitchen Kit Call Out Redistribution Event at University Academy 92. It was great to hear the voices of some of the organisations at the event and how the pre-loved kit makes a difference to their community. National coverage has prompted enquiries from other parts of the country looking for similar schemes in their area. You can read the article here.
You can see the BBC Northwest News coverage of the first KCCO event here.
