COVID-19 Community Response
On 17 th April 2020, the Trustees of LACT established a multi-ethnic food bank at the Little London Community Center, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic emergency, as many Africans in Leeds had lost their jobs or were at risk of serious
malnutrition due to loss of earnings.
The project was delivered over a period of 16 weeks and ended on 31st July 2020, during which, 945 people received food aid from the project. A total of 246 families benefitted from the project, including 506 children. Twenty-five students also received food assistance.
Although LACT was established to support the needs of African communities in Leeds, however, the enormity of the humanitarian challenge posed by the Covid-19 pandemic was such that the LACT COVID-19 Community Response Project had to extend its support to people from diverse communities across the city. These are examples of the ethnic origins of people that benefitted from the project:
Nigeria, Algeria, Somalia, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Nepal, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, Sierra Leone, India, White British, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Angola, Guinea Conakry, Ghana, Gambia, Eritrea, Cameroon, Portugal, Ethiopia, Ivory
Coast, Congo DRC.
The project was funded by the Leeds City Council, the West Yorkshire Masonic Charities, and financial donations from individuals, including Trustees of LACT. In-kind donations were also received from charities and private sector organisations,
with tremendous support from many volunteers who helped with food distribution.

