Food Aid
We are very blessed at Skanda Vale to have more food than we need to meet the needs of the pilgrims and the resident community.
We work alongside other charities to help get this food to people who need it, whether here in the UK or all over the world – many tonnes of food has made its way through Skanda Vale to Ukraine, Romania, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Somaliland, Sierra Leone, Guatemala, and other countries. We are always open to discussion with new groups or charities.
Where does the food come from?
In many religious and spiritual traditions, pilgrims will often bring food or other things as offerings to the Divine. These anonymous, voluntary donations are what sustain our Community at Skanda Vale and make it possible to cater for all our pilgrims. Food coming into the temples is offered up and purified at the feet of the Divine, and we experience an enhanced vibration and wholesomeness when we prepare and consume it. While all food can be seen as a gift, this is doubly so for the blessed food we call prasadam.
We are very happy to serve this food to pilgrims and to the wider local, national and global communities.
Food poverty in the UK
Hunger and food poverty is an issue all over the world. There being enough food on the planet to feed everybody, the problems lie in distribution.
Many people in the UK struggle to provide enough food for themselves and their families. Many people have to make difficult decisions about their spending, and sometimes have to go without eating, or are driven to eat unhealthily. Research from 2019/2020 shows that 14.5 million people are in relative poverty after housing costs in the UK, including 4.3 million children.
We work with food banks and local charities in the UK to help make food available to them, giving quality food to people who need it and helping reduce costs for these people and in many cases for the organisations involved.
Working with us
We are happy to be contacted by people who are keen to make a positive impact and help the food we have get to people who need it. Skanda Vale has worked with many different kinds of organisations, as well as individuals, to distribute food in the past. If you think we might be able to support you in any way with food, don’t hesitate to ask.
As well as the food we receive through the temples, our new warehouse built in 2012 has enabled us to store surplus food from supermarkets for re-distribution. We are usually unable to provide transportation ourselves, but are always open to creative ideas and discussion.
