FOOD AND BASIC MATERIAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME 2021 – 2027

EUROPEAN SOCIAL FUND PLUS

OPERATION BG05SFPR003-1.001 "HOT LUNCH"

Hot lunch in Kameno Municipality

Contract No. BG05SFPR003-1.001-0201-CO4

Operation BG05SFPR003-1.001 "Hot Lunch" is a continuation of the successful implementation of this operation within the 2014-2020 programming period and is implemented in accordance with the specific objective of the programme to address material deprivation through the provision of food and/or basic material assistance to the most deprived persons, including children, and the implementation of accompanying measures that support their social inclusion. The hot lunch assistance aims to provide healthy, varied and nutritious hot food for lunch to people who are unable to provide it themselves or with the help of their loved ones. The beneficiaries of the "hot lunch" rely on this assistance daily and are highly dependent on it. Hot lunch for the most needy people is provided year-round, in response to established permanent and/or urgent needs.

Brief description of the project:

The "Hot Lunch in Kameno Municipality" project aims to minimize the most severe indicators of poverty - the lack of food for people who are unable to provide it themselves or with the help of their loved ones. Through the implementation of the project, the Kameno Municipality will contribute to the implementation of the overall national policy for mitigating and reducing poverty and overcoming social exclusion. This goal will be achieved through support for overcoming the lack of food and basic materials to ensure normal living conditions for people who live in extreme poverty, experience severe material deprivation and live in social isolation. The project will cover 100 people from the following target groups: individuals and families with very or no low incomes, pensioner families and pensioners living alone, individuals with disabilities and low incomes, individuals with difficulty in self-care, vagrants and homeless individuals. The project activities also target people who have experienced serious incidents /fires, floods/, as well as vulnerable third-country nationals, within the meaning of & 1, item 17 of the Asylum and Refugees Act, as the municipality is under increased migration pressure. The first activity is the selection of users according to a procedure developed by the municipality. A hot lunch will be distributed daily, consisting of soup, a main course and bread, and at least once a week a dessert. The food will be provided in registered food points in the relevant settlements under the Food Act, and for people with limited mobility it will be provided in homes by home helpers hired under the Home Care procedure. A number of accompanying measures will be implemented, consisting of individual counseling/guidance for the provision of social benefits and social services, assistance in using health and educational services, counseling. It will be implemented within 33 months, and the total cost of the project is 266,832.96 BGN.

Duration: 33 months

Implementation period: 01.01.2023 - 30.09.2025.

Grant amount: 266,832.96 BGN.

Capacity: 100 users

Main objectives of the project:

The main objective of the project is to mitigate and reduce poverty and overcome social exclusion in the municipality of Kameno. This objective will be achieved by providing support for overcoming the main identified deprivations of food and basic materials to ensure normal living conditions for people who live in extreme poverty, experience severe material deprivation and live in social isolation. The aim of this project is to provide a hot lunch and to ensure healthy, varied and nutritious food for lunch to people who are unable to provide it on their own with the help of loved ones. A secondary goal is to support people in difficult situations to take advantage of all the opportunities that the social and educational systems of the state provide to its citizens through individual and/or group counseling and/or guidance, implemented through accompanying measures.

Eligible target groups:

1. individuals and families with no income or with low income, elderly pensioner families and pensioners living alone, who have low incomes, cannot support themselves with these incomes and their property and do not receive support from their loved ones;

2. individuals subject to social assistance, including those from the circle of persons under Art. 4, para. 1 of the Regulation, who are unable to satisfy their basic living needs and for whom a need for daily additional support has been established;

3. persons with low incomes who, due to existing disabilities or health limitations, have difficulty or are unable to provide for themselves, including single persons with permanent disabilities with low personal pension income, for whom there is no suitable candidate for an assistant under the personal assistance mechanism;

4. persons who, due to incidental circumstances, are in a difficult and vulnerable situation and for whom a need for this type of assistance has been established;

5. vagrants and homeless persons;

6. persons from vulnerable groups – third-country nationals, within the meaning of § 1, item 17 of the additional provisions of the Asylum and Refugees Act.

Brief information related to the implementation of the project activities:

Within the framework of the project, a hot lunch will be provided to 100 users from 01.01.2023 to 30.09.2025. The provision of hot lunch to the most needy people from the Kameno municipality will be carried out on working days during the months of project implementation. In parallel with the provision of hot lunch in the Kameno municipality, accompanying measures will be provided to users, consisting of:

• Individual counseling/guidance for the provision of social benefits;

• Individual counseling/guidance for the provision of social services;

• Provision of assistance for the use of health services;

• Provision of assistance for the use of educational services;

• Providing individual support, in accordance with the individual needs and problems of specific representatives of the target groups;

• Awareness-raising activities, such as developing and/or distributing targeted advertising and information materials and campaigns;

• Conducting individual and/or group discussions on the basic social rights of citizens of the Republic of Bulgaria, the possibilities for providing various types of social services, healthy nutrition, anti-epidemic measures and other current topics.