‘Incredible’ donation saves Blackpool Big Food Project food bank

An emergency food charity that was under threat of closure has been saved after an “incredibly generous donation”, its boss has said.

The Big Food Project redistributes surplus food from supermarkets and manufacturers to 125 food banks, schools, community kitchens, crisis services and families across Blackpool, Fylde and Wyre.

It sends out enough food for about 900,000 meals a year, its founder Neil Reid has said, but needed “people to volunteer food and cold, hard cash” for it to keep going.

Now a partnership with power network operator SP Electricity North West will see emergency funding provide about 36,000 meals.

The new partnership will run throughout 2026.

SP Electricity North West’s chief operating officer Stephanie Trubshaw said the food bank was “a lifeline to families”.

“We’ve got various partnerships to support residents in our area with energy-saving advice and when we learnt that The Big Food Project was facing potential closure, we wanted to step in and provide support.

“Our teams will work closely with the food bank while also promoting the other services we provide which may be of benefit.”

The Big Food Project’s chief executive officer Claire Powell said: “This incredibly generous donation means we can keep our doors open and provide thousands of meals across the Fylde coast over Christmas and into 2026.”

The Big Food Project, which has about 150 volunteers, was set up in 2012 and initially started as Blackpool Food Bank.

The non-profit organisation distributes about 50 tonnes of food a month to food banks.