Aviva Community Fund has provided £994 of match funding
FEAST- Feeding Adults Sustainably Together
London, England, United Kingdom
Aim
FEAST! are raising funds to adapt and continue our vital services of providing meals to vulnerable individuals suffering from food poverty.
FEAST!’s Vision:
Eradicate food poverty across London and ensure adequate nutrition is available for all.
FEAST!’s Mission:
Provide regular access to nutritious meals, nutrition education and skills, for people suffering from food poverty. These nutritious meals are made from surplus food that would otherwise be thrown away.
FEAST!’s story so far
FEAST! started as a grassroots project in 2015 and blossomed into a registered charity in 2017. It all began when our Founder, Dietitian Hannah Style decided that she could no longer ignore the increasing levels of food poverty, malnutrition and food waste in her local area, Kilburn in North London. By starting the charity FEAST!, Hannah wanted to go beyond just providing vulnerable individuals with access to food, she wanted to create a supportive space where those suffering from food poverty could get a hearty meal while also having the opportunity to learn how to cook with others.
For the last five years FEAST! has successfully been creating this exact space, by mobilising hundreds of volunteers and facilitators to cook and eat nutritious meals with vulnerable individuals in various community centres and hostels across London. Until COVID-19, these meals were cooked and eaten by volunteers and vulnerable individuals as a community, using surplus food donated by local food retailers (e.g. Sainsbury’s, M&S and Aldi) and distributors (FareShare, City Harvest, The Felix project). FEAST! has created a platform where individuals can be nourished not just by food but also through a safe and collaborative environment which facilitates learning and sharing.
Photo of a community meal pre-COVID-19:
During the COVID-19 pandemic, we have paused community meals and have quickly established a food parcel delivery service for vulnerable and homeless individuals. Within a matter of days of lockdown, we were certified as an “Essential Service” by three councils and we continue to receive daily referrals from various sources (councils, charities and vulnerable individuals themselves). During the height of the pandemic, we were serving some 2000 meals per week to vulnerable individuals across five boroughs, intercepting over 3000 kg of surplus food from going to landfill.
We hope that as the threat of COVID-19 subsides we will be able to reintroduce our community meals and continue to support vulnerable and homeless individuals during this troubling time.
We need your support so that we can maintain and expand our operations to eradicate food poverty, bring communities together and minimise food waste in London and the UK.
Watch the video above to learn more about the inspiration behind why we started FEAST!, our motivations and ambitions for the future.
The FEAST! Process
Why is FEAST! needed?
The right to food is a fundamental human right. And at FEAST! we're passionate about tackling food waste and inequality. FEAST! rescues perfectly good food from being sent straight to landfill. We use this food to provide community meals & now food parcels for the most vulnerable across London.
- Food waste: Each year, a devastating 4.3 MILLION TONNES of COMPLETELY VIABLE food is lost in the UK supply chain.
- Food poverty: Before the pandemic, it was estimated that 8.4 million people in the UK could not afford to feed themselves or their family on a day-to-day basis. Malnutrition affects three million people in the UK.
- Covid-19: As many as one in 10 in the UK forced to use food banks during COVID-19, according to the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
What are we trying to achieve?
At FEAST! We have three main aims:
- Minimise Food Waste
- Encourage Community cohesion
- Prevent Malnutrition
How YOU can help us achieve these aims!
Now with lockdown and an increase in food poverty across London, we require more funds to expand and maintain services during and after the crisis. When it is safe to do so we hope to reintroduce our community meals, this will require essential funding so that we can support our staff and coordinate safe and effective services in more centres than ever before.
FEAST! KITchen Campaign
FEAST! requires the routine purchase of items to ensure that services can run effectively. We require funding for additional PPE during COVID-19, deep cleans for kitchens, additional kitchen equipment, and food and hygiene and DBS certifications for our volunteers and staff.
Action against Malnutrition Campaign
Our research and development strand of FEAST! is increasingly needed as the prevalence of food poverty continues to increase. Going forward, academics from University College London and King’s College London would like to continue to partner with FEAST! to support research exploring the prevalence of food poverty amongst homeless adults accessing food aid charities.
Dream Team Campaign
In light of COVID-19, FEAST! operations and reach are expanding exponentially. To maintain operations, we need funding to consistently train facilitators and volunteers, and employ our coordinators to ensure that surplus food continues to be collected, volunteers are mobilised and hungry people are fed.
Meet the Team
FEAST! Is almost entirely run by a group of dedicated and selfless volunteers. They not only help us transport, cook and deliver food they also help us with our website, social media and marketing.
Hannah Style- Director & Founder
Hannah founded FEAST! in her spare time to tackle food waste and food poverty. She is an NHS dietitian by day and prevents malnutrition amongst vulnerable adults with learning disabilities by providing tailored diet therapy. She started FEAST! In 2015 and has been developing the charity further so it can achieve its aims and fight food poverty.
Lily McSweeney- Partnership Coordinator
Lily works tirelessly to connect all the dots with FEAST! She helps to develop and nurture partnerships with different community centres, shelters, councils and charities so that we can locate kitchens to cook in as well as identify individuals suffering from food poverty. Similarly, she works with our surplus food donors, including retailers, food distributors, food producers to ensure that we have sufficient food for our FEAST!s each week and that they get to the right venues at the right time.
Alyson Parkes- Volunteer Coordinator
Alyson looks after our amazing volunteers in every step of the journey. She makes sure there is a constant supply of volunteers who pick up the surplus food, cook it into something delicious and deliver it to those in need. She is constantly on the lookout for more volunteers and already coordinates an army of some 150 volunteers throughout London.
Sophie Delamothe- Fundraising Officer
Sophie researches and develops new income generation opportunities for FEAST!, including from trusts, foundations and other donor pools. Alongside the fundraising team, she writes countless grant applications so that FEAST! can achieve its fundraising aims and strategy.
Want to find out more or about how you can volunteer with FEAST!?
Visit our website
This project successfully funded on 7th October 2020