C.I.C. No. 15526702
Snack Van
The reasons for this are simple, one of them being the increase of so-called ‘food swamps’ in economically deprived areas, that is when fast food restaurants and shops stocking junk food overtake any healthy eating alternative and make it harder and harder for the communities to access healthy, clean food.
Another reason is convenience, if both parents of a household work two jobs or unsociable hours, fast food and unhealthy food is a cheap, easy way to make sure their families are fed.
Now, to talk about the secondary aim of the van to share hygiene packs and information on good hygiene is tied to, a not often spoken about type of poverty, hygiene poverty. This is the case when poor families have to choose between food or toiletries, with children wearing the same clothes, showering with no shower gel or shampoo, not being able to brush their teeth etc.
Hygiene poverty is very insidious, simply because of how visible it is to others. Children coming to school unwashed or dirty are prime targets for bullying, with harsh psychological effects such as low self esteem, anxiety, shame and anger at their situation leading to behavioural issues and poor school performance.
Unfortunately not having access to something that is a basic right such as cleanliness has long lasting effects on a child’s life which is why we aim to tackle this with this project.
When it comes to costs, a simple van can be purchased for as little as £1995, with an added £200-500 for van decals, to make sure that our Snack Van is advertised as such, bringing joy to the schools it visits.
As for the products we would give out, the project would be ongoing but we have decided to aim for 10,000 products in stock to begin with.
The aim of this project is promoting healthy eating and good hygiene practices to children hailing from low income and disadvantaged families.
Rates of childhood obesity are rising worldwide, in the UK alone, 1 in 3 young children is overweight with rates of childhood obesity doubling amongst children from lower income families.
Because the aim of this van is to teach children about healthy eating we have researched the companies who are trying to do the right thing in today’s market and aim to stock names such as Bob Snail, N’eat, Zest Delites and Freddie’s Farm.
We have looked at various products and flavours we would wish to stock from them, most being £0.60, £0.95 and £0.70 per unit, if we were to split the number of these products evenly we would arrive at somewhere around £8000 to purchase everything and to be able to share these healthy snacks, high in fibres and vitamins with school kids.
As the focus of the van is on nutrition and hygiene we aim to distribute hygiene packs to children including:
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Deodorant (£1.183/unit)
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Toothpaste (£1.56/unit)
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Toothbrush (£0.391/unit)
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Hand Sanitizer (£0.68/unit)
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Nail clipper (£0.35/unit)
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Plasters (£0.55)
With a total cost of £47,132 to put together 10,000 packs and a cost of £4.7132 per pack, for less than a pint in London people can make sure underprivileged kids have access to basic sanitary products.
Alongside the distribution of packs and healthy snacks we want to share useful information through the form of booklets, the cost of printing 10,000 coming to £900.
For the van, 10,000 hygiene packs, the food stock and informative booklets to begin with we are looking at £59,000 to kickstart
the project.