‘The problems around food insecurity and waste are increasing…’

For almost a decade The Felix Project’s distinctive green vans have been seen around the roads of London. The charity has one – ambitious – vision, which is of a capital city where good food is never wasted and where no-one goes hungry. The vans help deliver on that vision. They transport surplus food from shops and restaurants that would otherwise go to waste to their depots. The food is then redistributed or – in Felix’s Kitchen – transformed into nutritious meals, all of which are delivered to charities, schools and holiday programmes across every London borough

In 2024  almost 16,000 tonnes of surplus food was rescued and redistributed by The Felix Project, that’s the equivalent of 38 million meals which were sent to over 1,200 organisations. At the same time, nearly 18,000 tonnes of embeded carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) that is in the food was prevented from needlessly going to waste.. ‘We want to fight food insecurity – which is rising in London. And we want to tackle food waste. If food waste was a country, it would be the third largest CO₂ emitter after the US and China,’ explains Kieran Skelton, Senior Corporate Partnerships Manager at The Felix Project.

It’s a simple idea that has an immediate, positive impact on food insecurity and the climate. It’s why the Ambassadeurs Group (AG) have been donating to and volunteering with The Felix Project for several years. And it is the reason that the AG WorkFamily chose it as a key charity for 2025.

A key charity for 2025

‘Choosing The Felix Project as a key charity made sense to our team,’ says Krishna Hathi, Charity Initiatives Adviser at AG. ‘This year we wanted to support charities that are close to our hearts but also close to our home in London. We know from volunteering with The Felix Project that so much nutritious food that would otherwise go to waste goes to ensure school children are well fed. This fuels their learning and their health.’

For Kieran and the wider Felix Project, the support of AG has been vital to its work. ‘AG have supported us since 2022. Our action is focused around three key pillars – food rescue, food preparation and distribution, and education and wider influence. To deliver these we need money, food and volunteers. AG help us with two of those principles.’ As well as members of the AG WorkFamily volunteering, AG has donated £30,000 to continue supporting the charity’s work this year.

‘This is so helpful to us for our future planning,’ says Kieran. ‘We will use the donation to support families, children and young people.

Growing beyond London

It’s an important year for The Felix Project, which has recently announced a merger with FareShare. The merger of the UK’s two largest food redistribution charities will combine the innovation and London expertise of The Felix Project, with the nationwide reach and strategic partnerships of FareShare. The newly combined entity will continue to help tackle food waste and food insecurity at a time of urgent need. ‘We know the problems around food insecurity and waste are increasing,’ explains Kieran.

The Felix Project was started in 2016 by Justin and Jane Byam Shaw in memory of their son Felix. They wanted to remember and celebrate him and kept coming back to their memory of Felix being upset to learn that many of the boys he had been playing football with at a tournament hadn’t had anything to eat that day.

The link between nutrition and behaviour and health are well-documented; without food children can’t concentrate, they can struggle to learn, they can feel excluded and it can impact them both as children and into adulthood. ‘We are supporting a myriad of societal issues by tackling the big issue of food insecurity,’ says Kieran. ‘But hunger – especially in 21^st century London – can be unseen.’

The on-going need to provide children with nutritious food is vital, and it is the reason why The Felix Project has expanded so rapidly. It now includes four depots, Felix’s Kitchen, which cooks around 5,000 meals a day, and The Felix Food Factory. ‘Where we see challenges, we create solutions. We are a fast-paced and dynamic organisation,’ says Kieran.

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For more information about The Felix Project or its winter appeal, visit www.thefelixproject.org