His Majesty The King opened two new Coronation Food Hubs, including a major new facility in Deptford operated by The Felix Project, London’s largest food redistribution charity.
His Majesty joined beneficiaries of the charity at a ‘surplus food festival’ to mark the first anniversary of the Coronation Food Project and 76th Birthday of The King
The Coronation Food Project, inspired by His Majesty The King, was created in 2023 to re-imagine the UK’s food supply chains and help end food insecurity. By working together with the food industry and food redistribution charities, including The Felix Project
and FareShare, the Project aims to solve two problems at once: tackling waste and reducing hunger.
Food for the festival was supplied by manufacturing partners, who provided chefs for the event to cook up a range of delicious dishes all made from surplus food, including pie, pasta bake, curry and soup.
During the visit, The King met community organisations and school children that receive food from The Felix Project’s south London hub including Black Prince Trust, Love North Southwark, Lewisham Donation Hub, The Fieldway Centre, His Grace Evangelical Outreach,
Healthy Living Platform and Rye Oak Primary School.
Kathleen Heather, founder of ‘Love North Southwark’ in Bermondsey whose pantry receives food from The Felix Project and who was in attendance said: “We couldn’t run our pantry without food from The Felix Project. The need for subsidised food is increasing and
we are seeing more employed customers who can’t make ends meet. Our pantry gives people a bit more dignity.”
The Felix Project’s new depot will transform the charity’s ability to save and circulate more surplus food and will include a new freezer with 400% increased capacity compared to the existing depot. The second stage of Felix’s South London depot, opening in
2025, will be a one-of-a-kind processing unit, enabling the charity to accept an increase of seasonal gluts of fruit and vegetables to extend the life and add value to this surplus. The unit will focus on decanting, jamming & saucing, dehydration and frozen
prepared vegetables – all foods that are regularly requested by the communities that the charity serves.
Charlotte Hill OBE, CEO of The Felix Project said: “This is a game-changer for us. The Coronation Food Hub in South London will enable us to rescue and redistribute significantly more food and, ultimately, to feed more hungry Londoners. We are so grateful to
our funders and partners for making this possible.”
In the Coronation Food Project’s first year, 940 tonnes of additional surplus food has been rescued with 1,900 tonnes more donated; £715,000 has been circulated in community food grants; and £15m has been raised to officially open the first two Coronation Food
Hubs in South London and Merseyside. During the event, His Majesty also opened FareShare’s Merseyside Hub via live link.
Dame Marina Milburn, Chair of the Coronation Food Project said: “I’m delighted that we are able to open the first two Coronation Food Hubs this week. Seeing the new warehouses, giant fridges and bigger freezers that will soon be stacked with surplus food, ready
for distribution to people in real need, is fantastic. Winter is a difficult time for so many families, so it’s good to know we are able to do our bit to help.”
