Helen Skelton praises Fareshare Preston and The Intact Centre at ‘Celebration of Kindness’ event

The former Blue Peter presenter and Strictly star was the guest speaker when one hundred and fifty volunteers from 40 vital community food projects across Lancashire and Cumbria attended the ‘Celebration of Kindness’ event.

All the volunteers give their time to run food banks, food hubs, pantries, breakfast clubs and kitchens – which are a lifeline to thousands hit by high food, energy and living costs – and each project was presented with a plaque recognising their work fighting food poverty in their communities.

How were Preston charities involved?

Included amongst the volunteers in attendence were FareShare’s Preston distribution hub and The Intact Centre charity in Whitby Avenue.

40-year-old Helen told them: “I am in awe of you here tonight. Food poverty is such a huge issue which isn’t going away anytime soon, but the commitment and enthusiasm you all have for helping your communities is inspiring.”

Tina and David Humphreys from The Intact Centre even met with Helen, who hails from Carlisle, and told her about their work.

Chef David cooks for 150 people at the centre and offered to help the TV presenter brush up on cooking skills when she admitted she was not the best at creating meals for her children.

David said: “We use local food to help people get a warm meal they might not be able to get at home.

“We try to make families feel welcome and show them how to create healthy meals for children on a budget.”

He then admitted to feeling emotional when The Intact Centre was presented with its plaque in recognition of their work, adding: “It made me well up.”

What else did Helen say at the event?

Helen said: “Tonight has been a wonderful celebration and a brilliant acknowledgement of what is essentially lots of small acts of kindness that have such a huge impact on our communities.

“It is one of those evenings where hopefully everyone will leave feeling very buoyed and energised, but definitely very humbled and inspired.”

Who held the event?

The event, which took place at the North Lakes Hotel in Penrith, was laid on by building society The Cumberland as part of its Kinder Kind of Kitchen initiative.

The building society donated £250,000 this year to the charity FareShare, providing funding for a network of Lancastrian and Cumbrian food banks and food projects and helping them expand their services.

FareShare says demand is rising due to the ongoing cost of living crisis, and that their projects in Lancashire and Cumbria have supplied 2.4 million meals to people in need over the past 12 months.

Claire Deekes, chief customer officer for The Cumberland, said: “It has been an honour for The Cumberland to host this celebration event for these amazing people.

“The volunteers work tirelessly to support their communities to provide food to as many people as possible.

“They are truly inspirational. Thanks to everyone in this room, the equivalent of over 217,000 meals have been supplied to people in our communities since the launch of the Kinder Kind of Kitchen initiative in June.”