People 1st team put their best foot forward in aid of local foodbanks

The local team got their walking shoes on and have been pounding the pavements to ‘Walk Against Hunger’.

Essential Skills Tutor at People 1st, Jane Treanor, explained: “People 1st is a local training and employment organisation that is approaching 30 years of helping the West and South Belfast communities with their training needs.

“Our first office opened in the Dairy Farm Centre back in 1992 and we have grown steadily since then to have 15 offices across NI and ROI. One of the main things we do is support those aged 16 to 24 with specialised training in a range of vocational courses after they leave school.

“We can see first-hand the effects the cost-of-living crisis is already having on our students and their families so this cause is very close to our hearts.

“We wanted to do something special to try and help our local community and so we created our August charity fundraiser the People 1st ‘Walk Against Hunger’.”

Lisburn, and the other 14 People 1st offices, set themselves the ambitious task of walking 15 million steps to raise £15,000 for local foodbanks.

“We are all joining together in our collective bid to walk a total of 15 million steps during this month to raise money to help fight food poverty and help donate to six incredible local food banks that our offices have chosen- including the South-West Belfast foodbank and Lisburn Foodbank,” continued Jane.

“The team has been working hard, stepping out and each office competing weekly against each other and we are doing amazing on the step count.

“We want to raise this worthwhile sum to help support the incredible work these food bank charities do locally, to address the issue of food poverty. Food banks are a crucial emergency response for families in dire need and we are facing historic levels of food poverty locally.

“With the energy crisis, rising food costs and other factors, this winter is forecast to be the worst yet for local people, with an increasing number of local families predicted to suffer from a lack of food and with many children forecast to suffer hunger, which is really heart-breaking.”

“We can all play our part and donations are open on our JustGiving page, so please support this charity fundraiser in any way you can.”

Donations can be made online at www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/people1stwalkforhunger