Olivia Colman: I salute the volunteer army helping to feed the most vulnerable as part of the Food For London Now appeal

Olivia Colman24 April 2020

Yesterday I witnessed something amazing in the business parks of north London and the shut-up restaurants of the East End.

Volunteers, delivery people and restaurateurs have come together to support the most vulnerable in this time of crisis.

The Felix Project, the charity partner of the Evening Standard and The Independent, runs an impressive operation. Vans zoom in and out of their depots, laden with fresh food and vegetables.

I was delighted to see how it all worked yesterday afternoon. I put on gloves and a hi-vis jacket, helped to load a van with fresh food, and we headed off to east London.

The charity we were visiting, Made in Hackney, was producing 500 meals a day with our food.

They work with the local community to produce a list of vulnerable people, and their marvellous network of volunteer cyclists courier the healthy vegetarian meals to people’s doors. It’s like a community Deliveroo.

Many of the people I met were stuck in small flats, often alone, and immuno-compromised.

But I was struck by how cheerful they were in the face of such difficulty, and how delighted they were to see the volunteers.

Olivia Colman helps deliver food with The Felix Project - In pictures

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The organisations that donate food, volunteers that transport it and the charities that transform it into fresh meals — I salute you.

And to the readers: I beseech you to support the Evening Standard and The Independent’s campaign, in order to keep these deliveries running.

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The Queen spoke of her belief that our “instinctive compassion” will take us through this crisis. What I witnessed yesterday — the dedicated, kind community-led work of The Felix Project and Made in Hackney — has convinced me there is indeed great cause to be hopeful.

Our campaign in a nutshell

WHAT ARE WE DOING? We have launched Food For London Now, an appeal to fund the delivery of food to poor, elderly and vulnerable Londoners who are unable to afford food or are confined to home and at high risk of losing their lives from catching the coronavirus. Monies raised go to our appeal partner, The Felix Project, London’s biggest food surplus distributor, which is part of a co-ordinated food distribution effort taking place across London. The appeal is under the auspices of the Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund and run by the London Community Foundation, which manages the Fund.

HOW DOES THE SCHEME WORK? The London Food Alliance has been set up by the Felix Project together with the capital’s two other largest food surplus distributors — FareShare and City Harvest — to pick up nutritious surplus food from suppliers and deliver it in bulk to community hubs in each borough.

HOW WILL FOOD GET TO PEOPLE? Each borough will create hubs to receive the surplus food, divide it into food parcels and deliver them to the doorstep of vulnerable Londoners.

WHO WILL GET FOOD? Boroughs are in touch with local charities, foodbanks and community centres as well as the government to ascertain who is most vulnerable and in need.

HOW HAVE THE FOOD REDISTRIBUTORS DIVIDED UP LONDON? Felix is responsible for co-ordinating surplus supply across 14 boroughs, FareShare 12 and City Harvest 7.

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