UNICEF has launched a domestic emergency response in the UK for the first time ever to help feed children most in need.
For more than 70 years, humanitarian aid organisation UNICEF has worked in 190 countries across the globe to try to reach the most vulnerable children, but the devastating effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic have now meant the UK has been added to the list.
The agency has even likened the effects of the pandemic on youngsters to that of the Second World War.
Since the first national lockdown in March, the number of families struggling to make ends meet and access food has grown, as the economy has suffered and vital jobs been lost.
Data from the Food Foundation estimated that 18% of 8-17 year-olds reported experiences of food insecurity over the summer holiday, while leading food bank charity The Trussell Trust said, on average, it distributed 2,600 parcels of food to children every day between April and September.
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UNICEF has now pledged a £700,000 of emergency funding to the cause, with money going to “over 30 communities up and down the country”.
This year, around 113 million children will have been born into the pandemic.
Love will not be enough to protect them from #covid19. But, together, we can ensure it doesn’t define their futures.
Speaking on the launch of the response, Anna Kettley – Director of Programmes at UNICEF UK – said: “We know that the coronavirus pandemic is the most urgent crisis affecting children since the Second World War and it is ending childrens’ lives everywhere, including right here at home.
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“We know that before the pandemic 2.4 million children across the UK were already growing up in food insecure households, and that since the lockdown period and the ongoing crisis, 32% of households have experienced a drop of income [with] some families having to make some really difficult decisions right now between heating and eating.”
She continued: “We feel it’s critical to come together at this time.
“It’s the first time which we’re recognising that this is an unprecedented situation which requires everyone to roll their sleeves up, step in and support children and families that need it most at this time.”
News
Police appeal to find next of kin after man found outside Palace Theatre
Daisy Jackson
Police are trying to track down the family of a man who died after being found unresponsive outside the Palace Theatre in Manchester.
The man, who has now been named as Jonathan Bernard Carroll, was seen outside the city centre theatre at around 6.30am on Tuesday 12 November.
Emergency services rushed to the scene and Mr Carroll was taken to hospital.
Tragically, the 47-year-old passed away a short time later.
A large cordon was in place on Whitworth Street and Oxford Road while police and security attended the incident.
Greater Manchester Police are now appealing to find his next of kin.
It’s believed that he resided in the Salford area of Greater Manchester.
Anyone with any information should contact the Coroner’s Office on 0161 856 1376.
Greater Manchester public urged to help get people ‘off the streets and on their feet’ before Christmas
Emily Sergeant
Locals are being urged to help get hundreds of people “off the streets and back on their feet” this festive season.
As the temperatures told colder by the day, and Christmas creeps closer and closer, Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity is bringing back ‘1000 Beds for Christmas’, and the massively-important initiative is aiming to provide 1,000 nights of accommodation to people at risk of homelessness before the big day arrives.
Forming part of the ongoing ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme, this festive fundraising mission is designed to provide food, shelter, warmth, and dedicated vital wrap-around support for those who need it most.
The charity says it wants to build on the “incredible success of 2023”, which raised more than £55,000 and provided 1,800 nights of accommodation.
Stockport-based property finance specialists, Together – which has supported the campaign for the last two years – has, once again, generously pledged to match every public donation for the first £20,000 raised.
Unfamiliar with the ‘A Bed Every Night’ scheme? Since 2017, when rough sleeping peaked, the initiative has helped ensure a significantly-higher rate of reduction in the numbers of people facing a night on streets in Greater Manchester than seen nationally.
The landmark scheme has given people the chance to rebuild their lives, while also giving them access to key services and opportunities that allows them to stay off the streets for good.
Despite the scheme’s recent success, organisations across Greater Manchester are under “a huge amount of pressure” to meet the demand for their services this winter, and given the current economic outlook, household budgets will continue to be squeezed – leaving people on the sharp end of inequality and poverty.
Emily Sergeant -
16th December 2020 
