Meet the man dishing out free pizzas from his converted caravan

Steve Wright quit his job as a teacher in 2019 to open up a food truck where he feeds people in need for free.
Steve launched Tiny Idea to feed the community in 2019.Steve launched Tiny Idea to feed the community in 2019.
Steve launched Tiny Idea to feed the community in 2019.

Steve Wright quit his job as a teacher in 2019 to open up a food truck where he feeds people in need for free.

The dad-of-four from Castleford opened the non-profit business, Tiny Idea, after noticing that a lot of the kids he taught were turning up to school hungry and often only eating one meal a

day.

Steve has won a number of awards for his Neapolitan-style pizza.Steve has won a number of awards for his Neapolitan-style pizza.
Steve has won a number of awards for his Neapolitan-style pizza.
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He sells the Neapolitan-style pizza to people who can afford it and also gives them away to people who are homeless or are struggling to put food on the table.

Anyone can turn up at the van and explain their situation, with the process of ordering the pizza being the same for paying and non-paying customers, so that they can “retain their

dignity”.

Selling between 200 and 250 pizzas a week, Steve estimates that he gives away around 15 to 20 per cent of them.

Steve supplements the giving aspect of his business by selling his pizza at various events and at a popup nightclub in Wakefield city centre.Steve supplements the giving aspect of his business by selling his pizza at various events and at a popup nightclub in Wakefield city centre.
Steve supplements the giving aspect of his business by selling his pizza at various events and at a popup nightclub in Wakefield city centre.

He supplements the giving aspect of the business by running a pop-up kitchen at a nightclub in Wakefield city centre four times a week and catering events and weddings.

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Steve, 45, says that a lot of people across the district are struggling to afford the basics with the cost of living crisis.

He says that people from the former mining towns in Pontefract and Castleford do not want to talk about how they are struggling to pay their bills or stock their cupboards because they

are “too proud” to be “seen struggling”.

He says one of his regulars lost his well-paying job due to Covid-19 six months ago but hasn't been able to tell his wife and children.

Every day, he pretends to leave for work and roams the street until it is time to “leave the office” and “living off savings until his money runs out”.

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Steve said: “There is a stigma attached to being out of work. People don’t want to be seen struggling which is why they don’t access help.

“People from ex-mining towns around here are too proud and don’t want to be seen using a food bank or asking for help.”

He also donates his unused ingredients to Wakefield Street Kitchen where volunteers whip up free warm meals to over 100 people on a Wednesday.

Steve’s long term goal is to buy a bus to expand the non-profit across Yorkshire.

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“We are not making a vast amount of money but we are profitable.

“We want to take the bus to different places to find people’s recipes, add them to our menu,

cook them and donate meals to people in the area.

“Maybe in a few years, we will have two, three or four buses.”

Tiny Idea has a pop up at Now Serving every weekend.