Food distribution charity The Felix Project revealed in a new survey that almost nine in 10 community organisations they support are concerned about increasing demand in 2024.
A recent survey carried out by the charity shows 89 per cent of the organisations it supports said they expect to see an increased demand for their food services. In total, 624 community organisations took part in the survey.
At least 83 per cent are worried they will not meet these demands and over 56 per cent are concerned they may have to reduce the frequency of their services.
Charlotte Hill OBE, CEO of the Felix Project said: “These results really demonstrate the immense amount of pressure being felt by so many of those charities working on the frontline to feed people facing food insecurity and hunger.
“It’s clear, too, that many people in London are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. 170,000 working people in London had to turn to a food support service for the first-time last year to ensure they could feed their children.
“Each week we send food to over 1,000 organisations and all of them want more food. To have so many respond to our survey and say they worried about an increase in demand shows how much The Felix Project has to do this year,” she added.
The Felix Project was started in 2016 and has grown to become London’s largest food distribution charity. In 2023 they rescued 13,394 tonnes of food from 322 different suppliers. The charity redistributed 50 per cent of the food to the top fifth most deprived areas of London.
Last year, they delivered 1.3 million free holiday meals to families across London over Christmas, as part of London Mayor, Sadiq Khan's £3.5m ‘Free Holiday Meals’ programme.
Laurence Smith, founder of Lewisham Donation Hub, one of the charities to receive donations from The Felix Project, said: “Quite simply, without The Felix Project we would not be able to do what we do."
Lewisham Donation Hub receives around 1,100kg’s of food every month from The Felix Project.
Mr Smith added: “The steadfast supply of surplus food means we can save money and divert the majority of our spending to our wider services, such as clothing and household products.
“These are things we would not be able to fund from other sources, making Felix a truly essential part of our support."
