YOUNG dancers in Leamington and Warwick have teamed up with a local foodbank for its Christmas fundraising campaign.
Coventry Foodbank is appealing for support to help meet increasing demand through a new four-part social media video, filmed in collaboration with Leamington and Warwick Academy of Dance.
They hope to raise awareness as well as thousands of pounds for the foodbank, which has 14 centres throughout the city.
The project uses the medium of dance to narrate the journey of food from the supermarket shelves to the central warehouse where it is sorted and packed and then sent onto the homes of those who need it most.
Rich Smith, Head of Communications, said: “Last year we had huge success with our first social media campaign song The 12 Days of Christmas and the question was how were we going to top that this year?
“The rationale behind it is that we want to tell the story in short segments to keep people’s attention on social media and it builds momentum over time.”
Told across four chapters between December 1 and December 7, the short light-hearted video opens at Tesco in Clifford Bridge Road where a little girl asks her mother if she can donate food to the foodbank, prompting the magical ‘Foodbank Fairies’ to appear.
The campaign culminates with the chance to watch a run through of the whole story, on December 9.
To donate or watch visit https://coventryfoodbank.org.uk/dance/ or find Coventry Foodbank on Facebook @coventryfoodbank and Instagram @coventry_foodbank.
Rich added: “There are more and more people living in Coventry who are facing a food crisis and every week Coventry Foodbank engages with people who are struggling to put food on the table and are completely relying on food and financial donations. It provides a lifeline to thousands of people across the city.”
Dee Ward, Project Manager for Coventry Foodbank, added: “The foodbank has been serving the people of our city for over a decade, feeding thousands of individuals and families each year. This has been incredibly important, especially as the cost of living has increased dramatically this year, resulting in more first-time foodbank users.
“Last year, we recorded a song and put it on social media, which raised over £10,000 to support Coventry Foodbank. This year, we’re hopeful that our light-hearted dance video will raise much needed funds to help people facing food crisis this Christmas.”
