TV star and Deliveroo Full Life ambassador, Maya Jama, joined staff and volunteers at Rise.365 and City YMCA London in Hackney, East London, to surprise volunteers whilst delivering food supplies with the Felix Project and The Pret Foundation. Maya worked as part of the teams as part of Deliveroo’s Full Life campaign and its commitment to deliver 1 million meals to local communities in need across the UK.
Whilst joining the volunteer teams Maya said “Sadly, despite it being 2021, too many people across the country are facing serious hardship and don’t have access to regular meals. I’m so fortunate to have a platform and a voice that will be heard, so I want to do what I can to raise awareness about how severe the food poverty crisis is here in the UK. I know Deliveroo has already donated so much and uses its network as a force for good, so when I heard about the new ‘Full Life’ campaign, I wanted to join the fight and encourage more brands to follow suit because that’s what it is, it’s a fight against hunger. We can all do so much more to ensure food equality across the country.”
Joyclen Brodie-Mends, founder of the youth organisation Rise.365 said, “Having Maya Jama working alongside our dedicated and value-led team today has been a brilliant start to the week for our volunteers. It was heart-warming to see people’s faces light up as Maya delivered their food. Deliveroo’s Full Life campaign and the pledge will help towards our own goals to support local communities in Hackney.”
Following the morning at Rise.365, Maya headed to City YMCA London, with The Pret Foundation and Deliveroo, to support their on-going work with households and families, to understand what more can be done to help the lives of vulnerable communities.
Regea Begum, the Housing Team Leader at City YMCA said: ‘At the YMCA we are all for supporting and encouraging our young people to move on. The Pret Foundation donations with Deliveroo really help our young people as some of them face difficulty in providing themselves with meals. Maya engaged with the young people, making them feel comfortable and speaking to them about their future plans and aspirations.’
Carlo Mocci, Chief Business Officer UK&I at Deliveroo said: “Seeing the charities and Maya Jama come together to deliver meals to local communities in need was brilliant. This is just the start of our campaign, and together with our amazing network of riders, grocers and restaurants, we are so proud to be able to make a small difference.”
Nina Allard Global Head of The Pret Foundation said, “Having Maya on board helps to raise awareness of The Pret Foundation’s charity run which has been donating unsold food to local charities like City YMCA for the past 25 years, as part of our mission to tackle homelessness and food poverty. We’re happy to be involved in Deliveroo’s Full Life campaign and to have launched our two new sponsored vans, which will continue donating food with help from Maya Jama.”
Deliveroo’s Full Life campaign aims to utilise its unique network of grocers, riders and restaurants to support communities in the more than 200 cities and towns where Deliveroo operates. Working in partnership with brands, including Pret A Manger, Co-op, and Waitrose, Deliveroo will deliver one million meals to Felix Project, FareShare and The Pret Foundation, who all work tirelessly to distribute surplus food that would otherwise go to waste.
