November 2025
The Felix Project has recently been involved in not just one, but two royal events.
First, a representative from The Felix Project was among guests to meet Their Majesties at a recent visit to a London temple.
Tanya Mitchell, Chief Income Generation and Marketing Officer, was one of the honoured invitees when Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla visited BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Neasden. Popularly known as ‘Neasden Temple’ the visit marked the Temple’s 30th anniversary and coincided with Diwali and the Hindu New Year celebrations.
Since its opening in 1995, Neasden Temple has become an internationally acclaimed spiritual and cultural landmark, welcoming millions of visitors and worshippers from around the world. It also supports its local community, offering a wide range of initiatives including child and youth development, food insecurity support, elderly welfare, health, and humanitarian relief.
To help with its work to alleviate hunger, the temple has received food from The Felix Project for over five years. Each week they get an average of 6,600 KG from the West London depot which they use to cook meals and distribute to locals in need.
During the tour, Their Majesties learned about the history of the temple, its charitable work and met volunteers and community members including Tanya. On meeting Their Majesties Tanya said “It was an absolute honour to meet King Charles and Queen Camilla and be able to tell them how The Felix Project has been a longstanding partner of the Temple. I Both know about our work, due to previous visits and The Coronation Food Project and it is wonderful to hear how enthusiastic they are about our work to reduce food waste and feed those in need. However, to have them hear about the impact of our support, directly from one of the many organisations we support is a joy and really helps bring to life the support we provide across London.”
The second recent event The Felix Project has been involved in that has involved members of The Royal Family. On 16 October, over 400 guests, including volunteers’, staff, community organisations, farmers, celebs and school children attended the Harvest Festival service at Westminster Abbey. It was also attended by charity founders Justin and Jane Byam Shaw.
The event, which celebrated UK harvest, recognised the farmers who grow food and thank those working to tackle food insecurity across the United Kingdom, including The Felix Project, Trussell, City Harvest and Coronation Food Project. Among those taking part in the service were actor Charles Dance, who read Henry Birtles’ poem The Harvest; and broadcaster Matt Baker, who gave a reading from Deuteronomy 8. Charlotte Hill OBE, CEO of Felix, also gave a reading.
The Queen attended the service, which was organised by Love British Food, she then met representatives from the charities involved to hear more about their work to tackle hunger and viewed the harvest displays outside.
CEO Charlotte Hill OBE said “It was a fantastic event and I was so honoured to have taken part. We were delighted to be able to bring so many people who help The Felix Project together, from those who volunteer in our depots to the very farmers who give us their food. The UK grows an incredible amount of fresh and delicious produce, and we are delighted to be able to rescue whatever we can and get it to those in need. Fresh healthy food makes up more than 50% of what we give out, and we would not be able to do this without our hard-working farmers. I was thrilled to be able to celebrate their work in such an iconic location.”
Following the service all food was donated.
A selection of pictures from the service.
