Baldock-based Barnardo’s director raises funds with £1-per-day meal challenge

Barnardo's director of retail and trading Roy Clark, from Baldock. Picture: Barnardo's (Image: Archant)

The charity’s retail and trading director Roy Clark, who lives in Baldock, is taking on the seven-day challenge alongside his friend Steve Palmer, from Kettering.

The pair hope to raise £5,000 for Barnado’s by spending just £7 each on ingredients for their breakfast, lunch and dinner for seven days.

Roy, 53, said: “I got really nervous about it – I thought about what I normally have to eat during the day and I thought this would be tough.

“I’ll usually have a slice of toast in the morning and then a £3 meal deal for my lunch followed by a meal in the evening. So spending just £1 per day really does not seem very much at all.”

Roy's receipt from Lidl in Letchworth. Picture: Roy Clark (Image: Archant)

The fundraising duo, who met when Steve was Roy’s boss in the 1980s, have had to come up with meal plans and shopping lists to help them during the challenge – during which the only thing considered ‘free’ is water.

They started on Friday, with Roy using his £7 budget to buy bread, baked beans, pasta, spaghetti hoops, chickpeas, kidney beans, tomato passata, rice and margarine.

All this, bought from a discount supermarket in Letchworth, cost £6.94 – just within the budget for the week.

Roy said: “This is a difficult seven days. We had to do a lot of preparation so we could budget for the week and know what we were going to cook and eat each day.

“But we hope to raise £5,000 towards Barnardo’s. Without fundraising and donations, Barnardo’s would not be able to help the thousands of children who need our support every year.

“We really would urge you to dig deep and support us so we can continue our vital work.”

Roy and Steve have raised just short of £1,800 so far. To find out more and sponsor them, see justgiving.com/fundraising/steveandroyspoundaday.