Help a Hungry Child: Unusual ways Londoners have helped The Felix Project fight food waste

Since The Felix Project launched in early 2016, it has relied on the generosity of Londoners to help it grow.

Thanks to the 250 volunteers who help it run, and the 94 suppliers who donate their surplus food, Felix is now delivering 10 tonnes of food a week to 122 charities who feed people in need.

But as well as this, there have been some more unusual ways that Londoners have helped Felix.

Grundig

When Grundig found out about Felix, they decided to donate six freezers and a fridge to help store surplus food at the charity’s depot in Park Royal.

When Felix’s second depot opened in Enfield at the end of last year, Grundig installed a fridge freezer and a dishwasher there too.

Through working with Felix, Grundig have also begun working with one of Felix’s charities, the Rugby Portobello Trust. They have now provided RPT with a range of appliances to help furnish their community café.

Paul

Paul has scores of bakeries across London, so they often have leftover bread to give to Felix. Bread goes stale quickly however, making it hard to distribute all of it. Now at the end of the day Paul bakes much of their surplus bread into bread pudding to give to Felix, so not only will it last longer, but charities can serve a sweet and nutritious pudding to their clients every day.

As well as this, Paul has raised £28,293 from fundraising in store.

National Car Parks

Felix has ten green vans that volunteers drive around London every day, picking up food and delivering it to charities. National Car Parks have given Felix two free parking spaces in central London, worth £6,000 a year each. This means the vans can be parked near the suppliers’ centre of operation, making runs much more efficient for volunteer drivers.

Sainsbury's and Network Rail

Sainsbury’s supply food to Felix, but at Christmas they decided to team up with Network Rail and do something a bit different.

In December they created a “Festive Food Donation Station” on the concourse in Paddington station, where members of the public could donate items of food by placing them in designated baskets. The produce was then collected by volunteers from The Felix Project and taken to frontline charities around London.

D&D

D&D have been friends of Felix since the beginning. Francesco Mazzei, the chef who runs three of their restaurants, has helped out at countless Felix fundraisers.

From teaching children to cook in schools that Felix delivers to, to cooking a surplus food dinner for a volunteer party, Francesco is always on hand to whip up a gourmet storm with leftover ingredients.

Grundon

Grundon Waste Management support Felix at both of the charity’s depots. They provide all three sites with bins for their mixed recycling, glass, food and general waste, all of which is transported to Grundon’s local facilities where they treat it for free.

Grundon employees have also donated their time to Felix’s sister charity the Oxford Food Bank, regularly joining them on volunteering shifts helping to deliver food to local charities.

Kerrymaid

Kerrymaid have provided 44 tubs of their butter spread to schools benefiting from our Help a Hungry Child Appeal, which will reach 9,000 London pupils.

Each 2kg tub of spread will be used in school kitchens across London for breakfast and after school clubs.