Yahoo News Food for London Now: Tottenham Hotspur Stadium transformed into food hub as appeal soars to £850,000
The Evening Standard’s Food For London Now campaign achieved lift-off yesterday when the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium became the first community hub to open as part of an ambitious pan-London initiative to deliver surplus food to vulnerable Londoners.
As the total raised by our appeal leapt by £300,000 in 24 hours to £850,000, the stadium’s underground “pitch pocket”, usually used to store the retractable grass pitch, was transformed into a production line reminiscent of a war effort.
It began yesterday just after midday when our appeal partner, The Felix Project, delivered 1,800kg of produce, including fresh fruit and vegetables, eggs, milk, bread, porridge, pasta, pre-prepared soups and ready meals. Dozens of volunteers wearing masks, latex gloves and high-vis vests stood two metres apart behind trestle tables brought in from local schools and began to prepare individual food parcels.
These would later be delivered to the doorsteps of poor, elderly and vulnerable residents of Haringey, as identified on the council’s database, as well as to the homes of local children eligible for free school meals.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said: “As a club, we have always been clear about our commitment to the wider community — and never has this been more important than it is now. We are immensely proud of the efforts of everybody involved in the fight against Covid-19 and see today as just the start of what we can do as a club to assist.”
A Haringey council spokesman told the Standard that 150 of the borough’s most vulnerable families would get food parcels delivered yesterday. Production will be ramped up from today to several thousand food parcels daily.
The packers were council employees transferred from non-priority services and volunteers from Edible London, a local charity tackling food poverty.
The spokesman added that a second Haringey hub, located at Alexandra Palace, had also become operational yesterday, and that it would be used to supply food to borough residents with severe underlying health problems in self-isolation as part of the Government’s Covid-19 “shielded” category.
Joseph Ejiofor, leader of Haringey council, said: “I’m inspired by the generosity of our community who have stepped up to help so quickly. We have staff and volunteers working tirelessly at our two food redistribution centres, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and Alexandra Palace, alongside our voluntary sector partners, Edible London.
“Working together we’re ensuring food gets to households who need it most. With more volunteers, we hope to support thousands, so please get in touch if you can help.”
Richard McCafferty, a self-employed business owner who carried out the first Felix delivery, said: “I started volunteering for Felix nine months ago helping two days a week, but since the outbreak I’m doing a five-day-a-week shift. It’s good to see Spurs, the council, Felix and the Standard joining forces to get food to people in need and I am proud to do my part.”
Donations to our appeal poured in yesterday, including £160,000 from the Duke of Westminster through his Westminster Foundation, a substantial pledge from Burberry, and £25,000 from Two Magpies Fund, a non-profit helping women who have experienced abuse. And more than £20,000 was pledged by 350 members of the public via our Virginmoneygiving page.
Rani Nagra of the Westminster Foundation said: “As one of many initiatives we are undertaking to support families through this crisis, we’re delighted to support The Felix Project.”
Marco Gobbetti, CEO of Burberry, said: “The team at Burberry is proud to support those working tirelessly to combat Covid-19. We hope the support we provide will go some way towards saving lives and helping our world recover from this devastating pandemic.”
Kirsten Westlake, from the Two Magpies Fund, said: “Felix provides practical help to some of the most vulnerable people. We should support them in their work.”
Donate at virginmoneygiving.com/fund/FoodforLondonNOW
Our appeal 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. Actual deliveries to boroughs could be made by any of the three providers, based on what is most efficient on the day.
Read more
£550,000 raised in 72 hours for Food For London Now appeal
Food For London Now: Help us feed the capital
It’s the challenge of our lifetime — let’s unite to feed London
