A London charity that rescues surplus food from supermarkets, wholesalers and farms and delivers it to charities and schools, with depots in Park Royal, Enfield, Deptford and Poplar.
The Felix Project is a London charity that takes surplus food that would otherwise be thrown away and gets it to people who need it. It collects from more than 500 suppliers, including supermarkets, wholesalers, farms, restaurants and delis, then sorts it and delivers it to almost 1,000 front-line charities, primary schools and holiday programmes. Those groups use it to feed people who are vulnerable, homeless, living with mental health issues, or struggling to afford nutritious food. In 2021 it redistributed the equivalent of 30 million meals, and a figure of over 434,000 Londoners a week was reported for the same year (as at April 2022).
The charity was founded in 2016 by Justin Byam Shaw, in memory of his son Felix, who died aged 14 from meningitis. Its strategic vision, quoted in a 2021 interview, is "a London where nobody goes hungry, and good food is never wasted". Mr Byam Shaw was later recognised with an OBE in the King's honours. The charity is part of the FareShare UK network and is its exclusive regional delivery partner in London, and in the pandemic it formed the London Food Alliance with FareShare and City Harvest.
The Felix Project works across London. It has depots in Park Royal, Enfield, Deptford and Poplar, and in Poplar it also runs Felix's Kitchen, a kitchen that turns surplus food into cooked meals, with an aim of producing 1.5 million meals a year (as at April 2022). A haulage partner, Upminster Distribution, collects large loads from across the UK. Until 2021 it operated mainly in north and west London, with the Poplar depot extending its reach to the east. These details are from 2021 and 2022 sources, so check its website for its current depots.
People at the charity include drivers, warehouse teams and professional chefs, supported by volunteers. In 2021 its corporate partnerships manager said Felix's Kitchen needed 25 to 30 volunteers a day. Companies take part through team volunteering days at its depots, and supporters raise money by running events such as the London Marathon. The charity describes its response to the pandemic as "agile" and says it is committed to "being there every step of the way" so no Londoner is left behind. Its partners include Sainsbury's, Ocado, the Co-op, Pret, Oddbox and Deliveroo, according to an industry page.
A food redistribution charity needs many kinds of people. There are drivers, depot and warehouse staff, food-safety and quality teams, chefs in the kitchen, partnership managers who work with food businesses, fundraisers, communications and data staff, and finance and operations roles. If you like practical work that makes an immediate difference, or are interested in how supply chains and food systems work, this is an interesting place to learn about both. The charity's website lists current vacancies and volunteering days.
Website: thefelixproject.org
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