Charity campaign is the Young British Foodies’ Real Bread winner

The additive-free flour arrangers of Britain were recognised last night as the Real Bread Campaign received the Honorary award in the Young British Foodies (YBFs) 2013.

Accepting the award from category judge Gizzi Erskine, Real Bread Campaign coordinator Chris Young said: ‘This is for the five hundred and seventy local Real Bread bakers we know so far and nearly two thousand people who’ve become Campaign members to support our work over the past four years.’

Food writer, chef and TV presenter Erskine said of Young: ‘He’s a powerhouse, genuine and inspiring.’

After four years concentrating on supporting the rise of Real Bread at the hearts of local communities around Britain, the Campaign is now working to secure funding and attract yet more members to support its planned Together We Rise project. This will bring together people living with mental health issues, or otherwise having a tougher time than most of us, benefit from the therapeutic, social and employment opportunities offered by Real Bread making.

The Campaign is currently coordinating the first ever Sourdough September to help people discover the delicious delights of ‘wild’ yeast leavened loaves. Since its launch in September 2010, the Campaign’s membership scheme has attracted nearly 2000 people to join. Though only working in the UK, the Campaign has members in countries around the world, including Ireland, Finland, USA, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia.  

Real Bread bakers attending last night’s event in London included Campaign ambassador and YBFs baking award finalist Duncan Glendinning of The Thoughtful Bread Company in Bath; Campaign member and River Cottage bread handbook author Daniel Stevens, who was a judge of the baking category; and Campaign member Bridget Hugo of Bread Bread in Brixton, who won the YBFs baking award in 2012.

Part of the food and farming charity Sustain, the Real Bread Campaign coordinates the mutually-supportive national network of thousands of people supporting its mission to find and share ways to make bread better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet. Details of the Campaigns work, including success to date, future plans and membership scheme can be found at www.realbreadcampaign.org

**ENDS**

For more information please contact Chris Young: chris [at] sustainweb.org or 0203 5596 777​
www.realbreadcampaign.org       twitter.com/realbread     facebook.com/realbreadcampaign

For photos or more information about the Young British Foodies, please contact Tamara at Taste PR:
tamaras@taste-pr.com or 0207 242 2844
www.the-ybfs.com   www.twitter.com/TheYBFs

NOTES

The Real Bread Campaign began in November 2008.

Real Bread Campaign initiatives include…

Together We Rise The Campaign is working to secure funding for its planned new main project, which will help thousands of people around the UK living with mental health issues or otherwise have a tougher time than most to benefit from the therapeutic, social and employment opportunities Real Bread making offers. You can find details of our plans at: http://bit.ly/NVGPoi

• Knead to Know: the Real Bread starter To date, more than 2500 people have requested the Campaign’s guide to setting up a successful Community Supported Bakery or home-based microbakery
• The Real Bread Finder The only online directory dedicated to helping people find where to buy Real Bread locally in now used by more than 570 bakeries. Free for bakers to add, and people to seek, local places to buy Real Bread.
• The Real Bread Loaf Mark is helping more than 120 bakers to show, and countless shoppers to see, ‘this is Real Bread!’
• Membership The Campaign’s mutually-supportive national network helps bakers and everyone else who cares about the state of bread in Britain to connect with each other to ask for and share ideas and information to help the rise of Real Bread. Membership fees, at four accessible levels from individuals to large companies, help to fund the Campaign’s work.
• Sourdough September A whole month of sourdough lovers around the UK sharing and demystifying the delicious delights of the original (and some would say still the best) form of leavened Real Bread

The YBFs
Launched in 2012, The YBFs Foundation’s aims are ‘to shine a spotlight on this grassroots talent in the annual awards and provide a springboard to success with world class mentoring and commercial opportunities.’ They say that that Young British Foodies are ‘the people putting food and drink back at the heart of our communities. They're the men and women using lost arts and new skills to bring craft back to the kitchen. Perhaps more importantly, they're the people who've come to represent the best of British innovation and entrepreneurship in a struggling economy.’ The full list of finalists and winners can be found at www.the-ybfs.com