PRESS RELEASE: Walking for #ExtraPlace - 100 miles | 7 days | 100meals
Wo King, CEO of Hi9 Ltd., a Cornish Tech company, is walking 100 miles to raise money for 100 meals to highlight the rising food poverty pandemic.
The Covid lockdowns might be a fading memory for some people in the UK, but there is one pandemic which is going nowhere. Thanks to the rising cost-of-living, food poverty is still on the incline, and now more than ever, it is time to set an ‘extra place’ at the table.
Across Cornwall this Easter, CEO of Hi9, Wo King, is walking #100milesfor100meals. This challenge is part of Hi9’s wider campaign #ExtraPlace, which encourages people to donate £8 - the cost of a meal - to foodbanks. You can #WalkWithWo in this week-long challenge, from 7th April in Bodmin to 13th April at Transform CPR’s foodbank in Camborne, via Bugle, Newquay, Truro, Falmouth, Helston and Penzance.
In addition to raising money and spreading awareness of food poverty, Hi9 are gathering data on foodbank opening times, donations and volunteering needs, to inform the first comprehensive, accessible database of Cornish foodbanks. This enables users to chat to ‘Debbie’, Hi9’s AI assistant, to find out accurate, up-to-date information.
Wo said, “We’re doing this to solve a problem. If you Google ‘food’ in your area you get an incredible number of search results describing anywhere from cafes to fast food outlets. What you don’t get is information on foodbanks. What we are building by creating a database is Google for everyone else.”
In the height of the coronavirus pandemic, Transformation CPR’s client provision went from 10,000-12,000 meals per month to a shocking 26,000 meals a month, increasing their costs from£4,000 a month to £4,000 a week. Whilst demands for support have reduced from these emergency levels, Cornwall’s food poverty pandemic is significantly worsening as a result of the rising cost of living. The #100milesfor100meals challenge will raise funds for Transformation CPR, however once the database is in place, Hi9 will be establishing their own charity which will enable them to raise and distribute funds to all Cornish foodbanks.
For those foodbanks not visited on the walk, and for any smaller but equally essential community larders and fridges, Hi9 will be in contact to ensure your details are included and correct in the database. However, if you run, volunteer at, or know of a foodbank, larder or fridge, please do not hesitate to reach out: hi@debbie.chat
You can donate an #extraplace for £8 via the Walking for #Extraplace GoFundMe page. All the funds will go to Transformation CPR who will distribute the #Extraplace meals over the Easter weekend.
If you’d like to #WalkWithWo or learn more about the timings of the walking route, please email hi@debbie.chat
You can chat foodbanks, Universal Credit or check your bin days with Debbie right now via Facebook (@chat2debbie), WhatsApp (07520 645157) or www.debbie.chat.
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Notes to editors:
Further information
Interviews by arrangement – please contact nicola@hi9.io or wo@hi9.io
#Extraplace
#Extraplace is Hi9's campaign to encourage people to donate the cost of a meal to foodbanks, essentially setting an ‘extraplace’ at the table for those who otherwise wouldn’t be able to afford to eat.
Debbie
Website - www.debbie.chat
Facebook @chat2debbie
Instagram @chat2debbie
Twitter @chat2debbie
WhatsApp – 07520 645157
Hi9 Ltd, the creator of Debbie, is the technical arm of People Hub. Hi9 uses natural language and emotional immersion, so anyone can access services and share data without prior knowledge or training. Hi9 builds artificial friends to affect real change.
Transformation CPR is a registered charity organised and run by local people overseeing and developing social care projects in the Camborne, Pool and Redruth (CPR) areas of Cornwall in partnership with other agencies.
They offer foodbanks in Camborne, Pool and Redruth as well as a wide range of support with benefits, debt, mental health and wellbeing, housing and getting back into employment.
People Hub is run by Cornwall Development Company, owned by Cornwall Council, and its partners include Konnect, Smart-Matching, and Hi9.
The Cornwall & Isles of Scilly People Hub is part funded by the European Social Fund and is match funded by Cornwall Council.
