Food for London Now: Special delivery from our appeal saves the day for charity kitchen

‘Absolutely delicious’: Margo Stilley and Rahul Singh help feed the homeless at Radha-Krishna Temple
Lucy Young
Vincent Wood14 December 2020

Our Christmas appeal stepped in to save the operations of a local charity feeding the capital’s homeless population last week.

On a bitterly cold night in Holborn, the Standard’s Food For London Now saw meals from our appeal partner With Compassion delivered to the Radha-Krishna Temple — home of the international Hare Krishna movement in the UK — who then distributed the food to those in need who gathered in Lincoln’s Inn Fields to receive help.

The faith group has been fighting hunger among the capital’s homeless for more than 15 years, and was helped by our campaign after Covid restrictions forced its kitchen to temporarily close. Volunteers were joined by the Standard’s proprietor Evgeny Lebedev to offer plates of vegetable curry and vegan cupcakes to homeless people.

In keeping with the Hare Krishna movement’s beliefs, the vegetarian dish was blessed before being handed out to the queues in Lincoln’s Inn Fields. There are fears homelessness is surging in London, with the number of people reported to be sleeping rough from April to June almost doubling year on year during the first lockdown, according to charity Homeless Link.

Evening Standard proprietor Evgeny Lebedev helps feed the homeless at Radha-Krishna Temple in Holborn
Lucy Young

The number of rough sleepers brought to the attention of the charity through its Streetlink service rose from 6,899 to 12,134 across the period. July to September also saw a 28 per cent increase in reports of homelessness. The figures were obtained from Streetlink, which allows members of the public to call for support for rough sleepers.  

Rahul Singh, who has served meals to the city’s homeless for seven years, said the temple’s Food for Life volunteers had to adapt rapidly when the first lockdown came in this year — with the restaurant that had once cooked their food shuttering, vulnerable volunteers shielding and local officials turning off fresh water taps used by rough sleepers.

Let’s Feed London Now!

This November and December, together with our sister title The Independent, we will be delivering food directly to 1,000 Londoners a day through our partner With Compassion. Please donate here to help ensure no Londoner goes hungry this Christmas. 

However, he added that although the strains of winter and the pandemic put  more people at risk of homelessness, the number of charities stepping up to help them — including our appeal partners With Compassion and The Felix Project — means more rough sleepers can be supported.

He said: “I think the winter this year is compounded by the issue of Covid where the number of homeless people has increased, but thankfully there has been a lot of time since the first lockdown so there are a lot more charities that are serving food so that way the burden is split.” Welcoming our food donation, made possible by donations to our appeal from Standard readers, he added: “It was freshly made, it was hot and it was absolutely delicious”.  

Food For London Now works with London’s largest food redistribution charity The Felix Project. Nutritious ingredients from the charity are then handed over to the team at With Compassion, who cook a thousand meals a day for those in need across the capital.

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