Q3 2026 | breadandbutter.news

GMCA phones distributed by The Bread and Butter Thing to help tackle digital exclusion.

The Bread and Butter Thing has worked with Greater Manchester Combined Authority and Hubbub to help tackle digital exclusion in communities across Greater Manchester.

The project supported people who may otherwise struggle to stay connected, particularly in areas facing high levels of disadvantage. Working closely with local partners, TBBT helped develop a practical distribution plan that focused on dignity, trust and quick delivery.

Members were made aware of the support through posters, in person conversations and engagement at hub sessions. Each member received a phone, charger, start up instructions and SIM card. The phones were provided as part of a wider GMCA programme to help people become, and remain, connected.

Some members arrived early to speak with the team and get help understanding how to set up their phones. This took place alongside The Big Brew Time, giving members the chance to meet others, have a friendly conversation and enjoy a hot drink.

For some members, the support was about much more than having a device. It meant being able to manage daily life, stay in touch with services, access information and remain connected to family, health support and their wider community.

One member said:

“It’s really helpful. My daughter is Type 1 diabetic. The app to monitor her glucose levels via her Dexcom machine will stop working on older phones later this year. This new handset means that she can continue to lead her life with the insulin system, at a time when we couldn’t afford a phone upgrade.”

The project shows the important role community food clubs can play beyond access to affordable food. By building trusted relationships in local communities, hubs can help connect people to wider support in a way that feels practical, welcoming and respectful.

Our members’ voices in The Guardian.

We are really chuffed to see our letter printed in The Guardian this week.

Affordable fresh food is a recipe for a healthy Britain The letter talks about something our members tell us all the time, that people want to eat well, but healthy food has become harder and harder to afford.

One of the most important things about Bread and Butter is that we get to hear directly from members every week. Through surveys, chats at hubs and our podcast, people trust us with the reality of what life is like at the moment.

It means conversations happening nationally aren’t based on assumptions about communities they’re based on real experiences from real people.

We’re really grateful to every member who shares their story, fills in a survey or simply has a chat with the team at a hub. Those voices help make sure people understand that food insecurity isn’t about not caring about healthy eating it’s about affordability, access and pressure.

Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation Trustees visit The bread and butter thing.

We were really pleased to welcome trustees from the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation to The Bread and Butter Thing this week, hosting their trustee meeting at our Eccles site and spending time together across the operation.

The visit was a great opportunity to bring the partnership to life. After the meeting, trustees met some of our brilliant colleagues to understand how our model works in practice, from the warehouse through to the communities we serve.

At The Bread and Butter Thing, we support around 10,000 members each week through our network of community food hubs. These are not one off interventions. They are part of a steady, preventative approach that helps people stay afloat, offering access to affordable, nutritious food in a way that is dignified, consistent and rooted in local communities.

What really stood out during the visit was the strength and breadth of the partnership. From the Women’s Empowerment Programme to corporate volunteering and wider organisational support, Sodexo has played a significant role in helping us grow and deepen our impact.

There were some really thoughtful discussions throughout the day. We talked about the current pressures facing households, the importance of prevention rather than crisis response, and the role that partnerships like this can play in reaching more people earlier. We also explored how we continue to build on what we have already achieved together, making sure we are unlocking as much value as possible for the communities we both care about.

Visits like this matter. They create space to reflect, to challenge and to strengthen shared ambition. Most importantly, they help ensure that partnerships are not just well intentioned, but genuinely effective.

We are incredibly grateful for the ongoing support from Sodexo and the Stop Hunger Foundation, and we are looking forward to continuing to develop the partnership in a way that benefits even more Bread and Butter members in the months and years ahead.

Mark Game to lead FoodCycle as CEO.

We’re incredibly proud to share that Mark Game, founder of The Bread and Butter Thing, has been appointed Chief Executive Officer of FoodCycle.

Foodcycle logo

At Bread and Butter, we’ve long believed that food is about more than what’s on the plate; it’s about dignity, community, and creating spaces where people feel welcome and supported, which is something we have always admired about FoodCycle.

While our models are different, our purpose is closely aligned, with FoodCycle bringing people together around a shared meal to create connection and tackle loneliness, and us bringing affordable, nutritious food directly into communities to help people stay afloat before crisis hits. Both approaches recognise that food can be a powerful catalyst for change, and as our own work shows, support is most effective when it is consistent, accessible and rooted in community.

This isn’t a new connection, as Mark has been part of the FoodCycle journey for many years, serving as a trustee from 2017 to 2023, during which time we’ve built a strong and supportive relationship between our organisations grounded in shared values and a commitment to doing the right thing.

We want to say a huge congratulations to Mark on this appointment and, while it’s always a big moment when a founder moves on and we know he will be missed by our staff, volunteers and members, he will continue as a Patron of The Bread and Butter Thing, so we’re not saying goodbye for good.

For us, it remains very much business as usual, with our focus firmly on delivering for the communities we serve each week, continuing to grow our impact and staying true to what matters most, and we wish Mark every success in the role as we cheer him on from the sidelines.

Quietly doing incredible things!

Our CEO Vic Harper was recently featured in The Grocer (a leading publication in the UK grocery industry).

As part of the magazine’s long running series, ‘My Alternative CV,’ Vic got a chance to talk about the work we do at The Bread and Butter Thing, while answering some alternative questions!

Click here to read the full article.

What animal most reflects your personality?
A sheepdog. Calm most of the time, fiercely protective when it matters, and always keeping an eye on the whole field.

Which celebrity would you most like to work with and why?
Sarah Lancashire. She has a brilliant ability to portray complex, grounded characters rooted in real communities with dignity and authenticity. As someone who is proudly northern, I think it is really important that we continue to celebrate and amplify voices from all parts of the UK, and she does that exceptionally well.

If you could change one thing in grocery, what would it be?
Fresh, healthy food would be the cheapest option on the shelf, not the hardest to afford.

What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Seeing people stop just surviving week to week and start breathing again. And watching communities quietly do incredible things when you give them the right tools.

What is your motto in life?
Do the right thing, even when it’s harder.

We absolutely agree with Vic that doing the right thing matters, even when it’s harder. At The Bread and Butter Thing, that’s exactly what we strive to do every single day. With current estimates suggesting that around 9–10 million tonnes of food are wasted in the UK each year, reducing food waste is no small challenge. But it’s one we’re deeply committed to tackling. And as Vic says, the most rewarding part of our work is seeing members move beyond crisis point and quietly begin to do incredible things.

The National Endeavour
to end avoidable food waste.

The Bread and Butter Thing is proud to be part of the National Endeavour to End Avoidable Food Waste, a major new collaborative effort bringing together government, business, charities, philanthropy and the wider food industry behind a shared ambition to reduce food waste and strengthen communities.

Built through the leadership and convening power of Number 10, and inspired by the leadership of His Majesty The King, the initiative marks the first time the UK redistribution sector has come together behind a single shared plan to help triple the amount of surplus food redistributed across the country.

The plan recognises surplus food redistribution as one of the key pillars in tackling avoidable food waste, alongside wider work around household food waste and improved data and technology.

The Bread and Butter Thing has worked alongside organisations including City Harvest, Community Shop, FareShare/The Felix Project, Feeding Britain, His Church, IGD, Neighbourly, Trussell and the Xcess Network to help shape the shared approach.

For us, this is about far more than food.

Every week, we see how affordable food can act as preventative infrastructure in communities under pressure. It creates breathing space for families managing rising costs, helps older people stay connected, supports healthier diets and allows community organisations to focus on wider support around debt, housing, wellbeing and resilience. This reflects our long-standing position that food clubs are about prevention, dignity and community resilience, not simply emergency response.

At Bread and Butter, over 90% of our members say they save money when shopping with us, while almost three quarters say they now feel more connected to their local community. Our insight work consistently shows that many households are not in sudden crisis, but are living under sustained financial pressure with very little room for unexpected costs.

That is why scaling redistribution matters.

At a time when food prices continue to rise and more households are struggling to balance everyday budgets, increasing the amount of edible surplus food reaching communities can play an important role in helping people stay afloat before problems escalate further.

The National Endeavour also reflects something important about the redistribution sector itself. No one organisation can achieve this ambition alone. Success depends on collaboration across charities, retailers, manufacturers, growers, logistics providers, local communities and government. The willingness of organisations across the sector to come together around a shared plan demonstrates both the scale of the opportunity and the seriousness of the challenge ahead.

We are committed to that collective effort, and we will continue working with our partners across the country to ensure more good food reaches people, rather than going to waste.