Ian McKellen sits at a trestle table in a London East End church and begins to peel his third apple of the day. Looking dashing in his colourful scarf, he flashes his trademark devilish grin and chats to the other volunteers about “the art of peeling” as they prepare a hot roast with apple crumble to feed around 130 of the most vulnerable people in Tower Hamlets.
On his left is Phil, 52, a chartered accountant whose story of dramatic downward mobility is a salutary reminder of how poverty can happen to any of us — even middle-class people with white-collar professions. Phil earned a hefty £250,000 a year before the wheels fell off in 2022 due to severe mental health issues, including anxiety and depression, and he now has to feed himself on just £1.25 a day. On Sir Ian’s right sits Ausra, 48, a single mother who suffers from depression and must also get by on an impossible food and utilities budget of £10 a day for her and her two children, aged five and ten.
