Voluntary Organizations, Including Food Charity, Receive King’s Award

An emergency food charity, which experienced a 20% increase in service demand over the last year, is one of the organizations honored with a King’s Award for Voluntary Service. Pesh Kapasiawala of 3food4U, located in Epping Forest, stated he was “absolutely proud” to be among the eight Essex-based groups presented with the yearly award. The founder of the charity remarked, “It’s something I never dreamt of being – this big.” This award holds equivalence to an MBE and represents the highest national acknowledgment for voluntary organizations. Mr. Kapasiawala, 56, established the charity in March 2020 during the Covid-19 lockdown, aiming to prevent surplus food from being wasted. Currently, he receives assistance from a team of approximately 400 volunteers and provides support to 2,000 families each week. He explained that the organization distinguishes itself from a conventional food bank because individuals can self-refer to the service at any point. He added, “Some people are embarrassed to go to their GP or their children’s school to say they don’t have any food at home. We decided to reinvent the whole process from the viewpoint of the service user.” Tania Swanson, director of UTurn, an organization that educates young individuals aged 10 to 18 in the Tendring district about crime and violence, described receiving the award as a “phenomenal achievement” as the charity neared its fifth anniversary. The 44-year-old stated, “We live in a rural area and there’s not much in the way of services for young people that are focused on crime and violence in general.” She further commented, “We would never be able to provide the services we can offer now without our volunteer base behind us.” Nirmal Gupta, who founded the Essex Asian Women’s Association, expressed that it was a “tremendous honour” to be granted the award. She recounted that the concept for the group originated in 2006, driven by her desire to unite various circles of friends. Gupta explained, “We started off at first with just Asian women but then we had our friends who wanted to join and celebrate with us, so we then changed the constitution to accept women from any background.” She also mentioned that over 200 individuals frequently participated in the association’s events held in Southend-on-Sea. The King’s Award was also bestowed upon five additional Essex-based charities and groups: The Avenue Child Contact Centre, Pace Manningtree, the London Bus Theatre Company, the Music Man Project, and Cool to be Kind. For more Essex news, follow BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram, and X. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content of external sites. Information regarding our external linking policy is available.