Martin Stone, Next Meal founder
What is Next Meal?
Launched in October 2017, www.nextmeal.co.uk is a website primarily designed for smartphones using GPS technology to link homeless people to food and support 24/7, across the UK and in some European cities. It reduces street homelessness by encouraging people to give Next Meal cards instead of money, helping to reduce begging.
Why was Next Meal created?
I voluntarily run a soup kitchen in Muswell Hill in north London, open five evenings a week. However, many of the guests we served asked us for information about other food centres in the area, their opening times and services. There wasn’t one central resource or an easy way to find this out, which is why we created www.nextmeal.co.uk.
How does Next Meal work?
We have 370 centres featured on the site – soup kitchens, day centres, night shelters with day service facilities, etc. and new centres are joining all the time.
Since our launch, we have had over 150,000 pageviews and Next Meal has been featured on BBC news, in The Big Issue and the Financial Times, as well as many local press and other media. Awareness is increasing all the time.
How can centres get involved?
By sharing ideas and best practices across centres we want to provide practical ideas and support to all those helping to fight homelessness. Our free membership scheme is open to all centres across regions and countries. To become a member click here
