More than £11,000 has been donated by businesses from across Ealing at a fundraising event to support the work of food rescue charity The Felix Project.
The special Taste of Ealing event, which took place at University of West London, was organised by the Ealing branch of Swedish bank Handelsbanken to support the work of The Felix Project which helps feed people.
Over 80 people attended the event including local food and drink producers including Ealing Gin, Khukuri Beer, Powder Monkey Brewing Company and Sxolle Cider.
According to a recent survey in which the charity surveyed over 2,000 working parents across London. In West London alone, they found 21% of parents are struggling to feed their families on a regular basis and 1 in 10 have after paying billls have less than £20 a week to spend on food.
Chris Ttouli, branch manager of Ealing Handelsbanken explained why he wanted to support the food charity. “It was a customer that told me about The Felix Project. They sounded good so I looked into them and decided to volunteer. My colleague, Mel Skeels and I spent a day at the Park Royal depot.”
Mr Ttouli added: “We were gobsmacked at the scale of the operation. The warehouse was huge. It was a hive of activity with vans coming in and out all day whilst we were there. I thought under our corporate social responsibility we can do a lot more than just voluntary work. And that’s where the idea of a charity event came up.”
At the event, which saw UWL’s The Pillars hosting the evening, Trisha Stewart, director of the Ealing Business Club said: “It was a truly magical evening, and I was delighted to be asked to help put it together, especially because it is supporting such a good cause. Ealing is a very diverse community. And I see firsthand those who have and those who can’t afford to join in. Why would we not want to be part of bringing people together and helping them.”
When adding up all donations which included a prize draw, a total of £11,310 was raised for The Felix Project.
Charty Charlotte Hill OBE, CEO of the charity said: “It was a fantastic evening, and we are thrilled it has raised so much money. The Felix Project helps over 1,000 community organisations and schools across London each week, including 189 in West London.”
Ms Hill added: “Each one of these organisations is crying out for more food and we have another 180 new charities on the waiting list in West London alone. We urgently need more money to even start supplying these incredible services with food, so we are delighted with the result and the support from Ealing Handelsbanken.”
