Food Banks
Young Audiences Supporting Foodbanks
Working with young people to combat poverty and hunger across Northern Ireland.
Young Audiences Supporting Foodbanks was an initiative that was set up by Cinemagic Film Festival in January 2022 in response to rising food poverty in South Belfast. In 2023 we expanded the project to new towns and worked with new partner venues across Northern Ireland. In 2024 we hope to expand the initiative even further to reach those most in need.
To date the initiative has raised over 4 tonnes in food donations equating to 10,000 meals for local communities in Northern Ireland.
In January 2022 we partnered with the South Belfast Foodbank (Part of the Trussell Trust Nationwide Network of Foodbanks) to host monthly family film screenings in the Ulster Museum where audiences, rather than paying for a regular ticket to gain entry to the film screening, were invited to donate an essential item/food item needed by the Foodbank to support the local community in South Belfast. The initiative soon expanded its reach into regional communities, and we were able to programme foodbank screenings in Armagh, Bellaghy, Ballymena, Portstewart and Lisburn. We also worked with schools and the education sector to produce several ‘school foodbank screenings’ where pupils brought essential items to donate before watching a film. Year 1 ended with a special Northern Ireland Premiere of the new CBeebies Panto ‘Dick Whittington and his Cat’ for x 460 young audience members in ODEON, Belfast.
"By using the power of film in the community we want to positively harness the collective recreational ‘coming together’ nature of film viewing, with a common and strong social responsibility that exists to bring different sections of society together, helping to promote social inclusion and helping those in need."
- Joan Burney Keatings, MBE
Throughout 2023 we continued and increased our foodbank screenings in South Belfast. We developed our regional relationships in Armagh, Bellaghy, Ballymena, Portstewart and Lisburn; and we forged new partnerships with foodbanks in Bangor, Limavady and Drogheda. Year 2 ended with the Northern Ireland Premiere of the 2023 CBeebies Panto ‘Robin Hood’, the second year the Young Audiences Supporting Foodbanks’ initiative was recognised and awarded the NI Premiere by CBBC/BBC via Modern Films.
The initiative is much more than just collecting food. We help to educate young people on the root causes of poverty and to work with our partners to promote unity, equality, and justice in our communities. The project also plays a key role in tackling and overcoming negative attitudes, discrimination and the stigma often attached to individuals, families and communities who use foodbanks.
By using the power of film via ‘in-community’ screenings we also positively combine and harness the collective recreational ‘coming together’ nature of film viewing, with a common and strong social responsibility that exists within the community setting to bring different sections of society together, helping to break down pre-existing social and cultural barriers and promote social inclusion.
We believe there is a great future opportunity and scope for the initiative to run regionally across all counties in Northern Ireland on a regular basis. Project expansion will make an extremely important and genuine impact for all communities in practical and real terms regarding food donations; as well as an important impact through education and the learning gained from young audiences acquiring vital knowledge about the causes and impact of food poverty.