Help the Hungry: Easter eggs delivered to thousands of vulnerable people, as campaign steps up

‘It’s lovely to be able to provide treats to a lot of people,’ says The Felix Project’s operations chief – as emergency food packages go out to those in need

More than 3,000 Easter eggs were added to food packages delivered to vulnerable people across London over the weekend, as The Independent’s Help the Hungry campaign surged into action.

Our appeal has surpassed its initial target of raising £1m for The Felix Project – to fund the supply of food to children, the poor, the NHS and people struggling to get enough to eat during the coronavirus outbreak because they are having to self-isolate.

The charity has been working hard to rescue surplus food from restaurants, retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers, before getting it out to local food banks, homeless shelters and council-run community hubs.

The Felix Project was provided with thousands of Easter eggs and other sweet treats from a variety of chocolate makers – courtesy of the logistics company Kuehne + Nagel – to help brighten up the emergency parcels going out to homes in the capital.

“We pride ourselves on getting balanced nutritious food out to as many people as we can, but it’s lovely to be able to provide treats to a lot of people as well,” said head of operations Mark Fisher.

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He added: “It’s a been very difficult time for many families, of course. It’s great many of them will be able to do some of the things we normally associate with Easter, like enjoying chocolate, and our volunteers loved being able to add these to our deliveries.”

The Felix Project has been ferrying over 20 tonnes of food each day to three of the huge community hubs established by London borough councils over the past two weeks – more than double the 10 tonnes a day it was supplying in normal times.

In a bid to make the city-wide operation as efficient as possible, the charity has also forged an alliance with the two other big food surplus charities – FareShare and City Harvest – to create the London Food Alliance.

“The food industry has really stepped up to help us – there’s been a brilliant response,” said CEO Mark Curtin. “There’s still a huge amount of food coming from all our suppliers. And we’re doing everything we can to get that increased volume out where it’s needed.”

Some of the Easter eggs being delivered to vulnerable families (The Felix Project)

The meal-kit company HelloFresh provides a regular supply of its surplus fruit and vegetables to the charity – and donated £25,000 to help the charity scale up its operations.

“Food waste is something we have been very keen to minimise, so we’ve had a great relationship with The Felix Project since they launched in 2016,” said Laurent Guillemain, CEO of HelloFresh UK.

“In the current crisis we’re trying to support the work they do as much as possible so they can get more food out to the people who need it most.”

Farmdrop, a London-based online grocer with a focus on food sourced from local farmers and fishermen, supplies the charity with 14 trolleys-worth of surplus produce each week.

“We started supporting The Felix Project several years ago, when Farmdrop was still a very small operation working out of our original hub under the train arches in Bermondsey, and we are very proud to still be supporting their incredible work,” said CEO Eleanor Herrin.

“Our operating model has always aimed to be as close to zero-waste as possible, and we couldn’t think of anyone better to donate this excess food to.”

She added: “Now more than ever, we must continue to look after the most vulnerable in our society, and I’m so happy that we can continue to help The Felix Project with their upstanding mission whilst supporting our own.”

Mark Curtin (left), CEO of Felix Project, and Andrew Faris, founder of Rhythms of Life deliver food for The Felix Project (Hannah Harley Young)

It took only 12 days since the launch of The Independent’s campaign appeal, in conjunction with the Evening Standard, to get to £1m, thanks to the extraordinary generosity of all of our readers, donor companies, foundations, philanthropists and more than 650 members of the public.

The aim now is to raise another £1m to help fund the vital work of The Felix Project, as it tries to meet the upsurge in demand.

You can also help us build a directory of ways that our readers can help the hungry in their area – through money, volunteering and food donations.

The Independent is encouraging readers to help groups that are trying to feed the hungry across the country – find out how you can help here. Follow this link to donate to our campaign in London, in partnership with the Evening Standard.