The Felix Project

Food For Thought

Marcus Roberts from The Felix Project tells us about their partnership with Fortnum's and how you can get involved.

Every day in the UK, two million people cannot afford to eat, while our food industry generates nearly two million tonnes of avoidable waste each year. In fact, the UK wastes 10.7 million tonnes of food a year - enough to fill Wembley Stadium 10 times. The Felix Project saves high-quality food that cannot be sold and delivers it to charities that cook hot meals and prepare food parcels for vulnerable people.

Fortnum & Mason has been involved with Felix from the very start and is one of the biggest fundraising partners in the StreetSmart campaign, of which The Felix Project is a major beneficiary. Fortnum's has raised over £150,000 since working on the campaign. The project was set up by Justin Byam Shaw in memory of his son Felix. The charity began in March 2016 with one small depot, one van and one employee. Speaking of the partnership, Justin says that 'Fortnum & Mason has been with Felix from the very start, supporting us with amazing surplus food and funding.'

'Fortnum & Mason has been involved with Felix from the very start'

Today Felix has 15,000 volunteers giving over 150,000 00 hours of their time, three large depots, a central London operation and a fleet of 42 vans. Their schools programme in the most deprived areas of London provides children and their families with fresh fruit and vegetables to take home. The Felix Project gives a sense of community to thousands of Londoners with regular daily and weekly food deliveries, including the elderly, the homeless and refugees.

The charity has nearly quadrupled their daily food output with around 125,000 meals now being redistributed to London’s most vulnerable communities via schools, emergency food hubs, food banks, social kitchens and other community organisations across the capital. 

One of the first charities Felix started delivering to is St Laurence’s Larder, which helps 3,000 vulnerable people a year. Its founder, Stephen Chamberlain, reflected on the service that Felix provides: 'For people down on their luck and at the lowest ebb of their lives, make no mistake, Felix is a godsend.'

In October 2018, the charity moved from its original depot to a much larger space, giving it room to grow and consolidate its impact in London. Last year The Felix Project delivered enough food for over three million meals, and this year it aims to deliver enough food to create at least four million meals – great news for its waiting list of charities and schools.