Clayton Hotel, Cardiff is partnering with Food Cardiff to help fund its Community Food Retail Network, supporting people who are struggling to access food or under pressure from the cost of living.
The hotel has secured more than £3,000 via the M&G plc Community Fund which Food Cardiff will use to support the 2,000+ beneficiaries of its Community Food Retail Network.
Community Food Retail projects are not-for-profit, charity or social enterprise initiatives rooted within a local community, with a strong social mission to tackle food related issues. The Cardiff Community Food Retail Network is a mix of agencies and projects which are providing access to food in times of need, supporting people to build long-term solutions to overcoming financial hardship and helping them to stay healthy.
In addition the Food Cardiff staff supported by the donation also help work on 20 projects which are providing 2,400 households with dignified access to healthy, culturally appropriate food, as well as wrap-around services such as money advice, nutrition tips and debt support.
Pearl Costello, Food Cardiff coordinator said:
“This additional finding will have a long term and sustainable positive impact on people who find themselves falling into poverty during this difficult economic time. We are able to coordinate a cross-city response to support people in circumstances where they might find access to food difficult, through our Community Food Retail Network. Through the network and the additional people we reach through our other channels, we’ll be helping well over 3,000 people through this activity.
“It shows just one of many ways that businesses can help the Food Cardiff movement which includes a range of pledges based on our Five Good Food Goals for the city – that people are healthy; that the food we eat is environmentally sustainable; that communities can help to shape their food systems; that our local food economy is resilient; and that our food system is fair and policies are joined-up,” she said.
Clayton Hotel has become a supporter of Food Cardiff in response to its recent campaign to engage businesses across the city centre in making practical pledges towards making Cardiff one of the UK’s most sustainable food cities – a campaign which was made possible through the support of the FOR Cardiff City Ambition Fund.
Patrick Hogan is general manager of Clayton Hotel, Cardiff and chair of the Cardiff Hoteliers’ Association. He said:
“As a hotel we are committed to continuously improving our sustainability performance – we’re a Green Tourism member and have held the Gold Green Tourism Award since 2021.
“We saw an opportunity, in supporting Food Cardiff’s ambition of making the city one of the UK’s most sustainable food places, to make a contribution which is helping those in acute need and building longer term resilience and food security. We look forward to further developing our relationship with Food Cardiff this year,” he said.
Carolyn Brownell is executive director (interim) at FOR Cardiff, the city’s Business Improvement District:
“We were pleased to use our City Ambition Fund to support Food Cardiff to engage more businesses in their Good Food pledge campaign. Sharing innovative ideas for actions businesses can take to support a more sustainable food system aligns with our own goals to help companies in the city to transition to a greener economy. It’s great to see another example of the positive impact the City Ambition Fund is having,” she said.
Clayton Hotel Cardiff is a 4-star hotel located close to Cardiff central station and a few minute’s walk to the city’s shopping and business centres. It caters primarily for short city break stays, events in the city and business travellers.
