By Ken Shergill
The Felix Project started collecting food from suppliers in the Heathrow area at the beginning of November and already provides food to 10 new charities. I’m absolutely thrilled to be part of this success. As a volunteer at The Felix Project’s West London warehouse I had been helping save lots of good food from landfill, so it gets to people who really need it. This got me thinking about opportunities with suppliers around Heathrow, and after discussions with volunteers, staff and trustees at The Felix Project, I talked to Western International Market near Heathrow Airport about getting their good surplus fruit and vegetables to people who would otherwise go hungry.
Western International Market is one of the country’s premier wholesale fruit and vegetable markets, and they were pleased with our suggestion to help them help the local community. Winding the clock forward, I work with three other volunteers who are dedicated to The Felix Project Heathrow operation. We collect from the market and other suppliers, including Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, and deliver to a range of charities that provide meals and food parcels. We cover the equivalent of the distance from London to Milan and back each month!
It’s so exciting how the idea has “taken off” at Heathrow and as we grow “organically” (excuse my puns!),
They’re delivering food to 10 charities in the area, and are growing the operation organically, so that it will be able to distribute more food to more charities in the future. We’ve got a really efficient operation: Heathrow Airport sponsor our refrigerated, low-emissions van, wonderful market traders and supermarket staff set-aside food for us to collect, and we deliver to charities free of charge. As a bonus, it’s pretty exciting to have helped set-up a brand-new operation like this!
Ken Shergill, volunteer, The Felix Project