Food for London: Bank giant Citi gives £200,000 to our food waste campaign

Anne Elkins of the Felix Project loads up food to be distributed

Global banking group Citi today became the first enterprise to back our campaign to tackle food waste and hunger in London.

The company has made a £200,000 donation to our flagship venture The Felix Project, which collects surplus fresh produce from suppliers and uses its vans to make deliveries at no cost to charities that provide meals for disadvantaged Londoners.

The Felix Project charity was co-founded by Evening Standard chairman Justin Byam Shaw and his wife Jane after the death of their 14-year-old son Felix in 2014. They have set up the Felix Byam Shaw Foundation and pledged to match-fund donations with up to £750,000.

The Citi windfall has been ring-fenced to be spent in two tranches.

The first £100,000 will be used to employ — at the London living wage — up to five deputy or assistant managers, to be re-cruited from among young Londoners who are jobless or who have low-income backgrounds.

The second £100,000 will be used to train staff and volunteers over the next 18 months as Felix scales up.

The training is likely to include van driving courses to acquire certificates of professional competence and also involve storekeeping and warehouse management, logistics and customer services.

Citi’s UK boss James Bardrick said: “Food poverty and food waste are serious issues facing London, with negative impacts on the health and wellbeing of residents as well as on the environment.

Supporting Food for London and its flagship The Felix Project is a great opportunity for Citi to address these issues by engaging young Londoners as part of the solution.

Citi has a unique interest in cities with a mission to enable growth, yet with growth comes recognition that not everyone is benefiting equally.

“Our Pathways to Progress initiative, of which this donation forms part, is about helping urban youth find positive economic opportunities. The future of London’s competitiveness and solving challenges like these depend on it.”

Food for London

What is the aim?
To redistribute surplus fresh food to tackle food poverty.

What are we doing?
We are backing the scale-up of our flagship charity, The Felix Project, which collects surplus produce from food suppliers and delivers it at no cost to a range of charities that provide meals or snacks for those in need.

What is The Felix Project?
Founded by Evening Standard chairman Justin Byam Shaw and his wife Jane in memory of their son Felix, this start-up operates two vans from a depot in Park Royal, west London. It has two full-time employees and 21 volunteers, collects food from 12 suppliers — including Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Booker, Makro, Daylesford and Costco — and delivers to 23 charities.

The scale-up
The Felix Project plans to roll out its operation across the capital. Funds raised will be used to buy more vans, open new depots, employ staff and recruit volunteers.

Funds raised
£500,000 so far from Citi, the Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund and The Felix Byam Shaw Foundation, which has agreed to match-fund money raised by our campaign for Felix with up to £750,000.

How to help The Felix Project

The Felix Project is looking for more:

Food suppliers including supermarkets and wholesalers to donate surplus food.

Charities which provide meals or snacks for those in need and could benefit from a free, regular supply of fresh food.

Volunteers to drive Felix vans, help with food deliveries and collections, or work in the warehouse.

Email Daisy@TheFelixProject.org indicating in the subject line if you can help as a food supplier, charity or volunteer.

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