Brakes teams up with Bristol charity to serve Christmas lunch

Brakes recently teamed up with Bristol-based charity The Matthew Tree Project to bring some festive cheer to disadvantaged families and individuals in Knowle, Bristol.

The initiative, which saw professional chefs from Brakes cooking up a Christmas meal, is the latest stage in a partnership that has seen Brakes donate food, providing around 5,000 meals of the 8,000 meals that The Matthew Tree Project distributes each week.

Mark Goodway, CEO of The Matthew Tree Project, said: “While the vast majority of us look forward to the season of cheer and festivities, the sad reality is that, for so many, this Christmas will be overshadowed by misery, isolation and hunger.

“We are delighted that our partnership with Brakes provides hunger relief to so many individuals and families – not just for Christmas, but throughout the year.”

He added: “This week we are delighted that Brakes sent its Food Truck to our Support Centre in Knowle to cook up a fabulous hot Christmas meal for our clients when they visit. Being able to do things like this for our client group is so important – sprinkling a little bit of joy into what are often such challenging life situations plays a key role in helping to give people hope for a better tomorrow.”

The Matthew Tree Project helps those in need by providing a week’s worth of food groceries, enough to feed the whole family, in exchange for a voucher from a referring agency (referrers include local schools, Citizen’s Advice, Children’s Centres, Health Centres, Council support services and over 90 others).

Barrie Nash, Brakes’ environmental manager based at its Portbury depot, who helped organise the event, said: “As a food business, we understand the role food can play in bringing communities together and, as a result, aim to leverage our experience in the food industry and our resources to help provide hunger relief in our communities. It is an absolute privilege to support The Matthew Tree Project, a terrific organisation providing a much-needed service to several local areas across Bristol.”

Brakes (0345) 606 9090