Food2Care to provide for children’s homes

FWD has expanded its online food distribution portal for residential care homes to include children’s homes, at the request of the Department for Education.

The Food2Care resource lists professional care sector food distributors by region and is intended to ensure vulnerable people in the care sector get appropriate dietary requirements delivered from a local supplier, avoiding staff having to go to supermarkets and potentially introduce Covid-19 into the homes.

DfE officials identified a need to protect food supplies to children’s homes, and contacted Defra colleagues who asked FWD to include them in its service.

The initiative was praised by Helen Whately, the Minister of State for Social Care, in a response to a parliamentary question. She said DHSC, the Cabinet Office and Defra had worked with FWD to provide the new online platform to allow social care providers to access food supplies direct from wholesalers operating in their area.

“This portal will help those care homes struggling to get supplies during the Covid-19 outbreak,” she added. “More than 90 national and regional wholesalers have signed up to the scheme so far from across the country and it has been welcomed by the Care Provider Alliance.”

The Food2Care service was initially launched in April to provide for residential care homes.

FWD Chief Executive James Bielby said: “We have had up to 200 visitors a day to the site at www.food2care.co.uk, and we are delighted that the care sector, including children’s homes, is able to minimise the risk of going out to buy food, and benefit from the product range, sector knowledge and customer service of our food distribution members.”

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