Food For London Now: KSI hails the 'amazing' work of Felix Project after lending a hand to feed the vulnerable

KSI and Evening Standard proprietor Evgeny Lebedev hand out food to vulnerable people at the St Cuthbert's Centre in Earl's Court
Lucy Young
Arjun Neil Alim9 May 2020

British YouTube star KSI joined the Evening Standard’s campaign to feed London during the coronavirus crisis, hailing it as “amazing”.

KSI, whose real name is Olajide Olatunji, joined the Evening Standard at the Refettorio Felix at St Cuthbert’s Centre in Earl’s Court.

The Refettorio, set up with the support of the Evening Standard in 2017, provides fresh meals to vulnerable people in the local area with food from The Felix Project.

Olatunji spoke to the socially-distanced queue of people waiting for their midday meal. “The Refettorio is the last bastion of food locally,” he was told by Richard, a regular client who is homeless. “Everywhere is shut down.”

KSI hard at work
Lucy Young

The rapper, who is releasing his debut album Dissimulation at the end of this month, joined the Evening Standard’s proprietor Evgeny Lebedev in handing out meals.

Each person was given a cup of coffee, a plate of jerk chicken and coleslaw, a cup of rice pudding and a piece of fruit. “It was awesome to see the smiles on all their faces as we gave them their meals”, he said.

The boxing star then helped Lebedev cut a birthday cake that the Refettorio staff surprised him with for his 40th birthday.

Another birthday cake was iced with Damien Hirst’s heart illustration that the artist had created for the Evening Standard’s campaign. “Rah!”, Olatunji exclaimed upon seeing the cake.

The cheer was subdued by the fact the demand for food was higher than ever.

“This is the new normal,” Refettorio Felix’s CEO Ali Kingsley told the Evening Standard. “Last time you came [in April], we had about 80 people a day. Now it’s over 120.

“We used to cook 300 meals a day for delivery, now it’s over 500”.

One person waiting in line was Andrew, a street performer who has been homeless in the past.

He wowed Olatunji and Lebedev with a card trick and explained that for him, St Cuthbert’s was not only about food security but also “that little five minutes of human interaction”.

Evgeny Lebedev said: “The Refettorio Felix is a microcosm of all the good happening in London right now. It represents community and people coming together.

“I was incredibly proud to show JJ what our campaign has achieved, and what remains to be done with his help.”

The Evening Standard launched its Food for London Now campaign to support The Felix Project in delivering food to frontline charities, vulnerable people and NHS staff in London.

It has committed to raising £10m to protect Londoners’ food security for three years after the coronavirus crisis.

KSI reflected on his experience: “It’s amazing to see what The Felix Project are doing for the people and it was a pleasure to be a part of it.

“I would love to do more in the future.”

Our campaign in a nutshell

WHAT ARE WE DOING? We have launched Food For London Now, an appeal to fund the delivery of food to poor, elderly and vulnerable Londoners who are unable to afford food or are confined to home and at high risk of losing their lives from catching the coronavirus. Monies raised go to our appeal partner, The Felix Project, London’s biggest food surplus distributor, which is part of a co-ordinated food distribution effort taking place across London. The appeal is under the auspices of the Evening Standard Dispossessed Fund and run by the London Community Foundation, which manages the Fund.

HOW DOES THE SCHEME WORK? The London Food Alliance has been set up by the Felix Project together with the capital’s two other largest food surplus distributors — FareShare and City Harvest — to pick up nutritious surplus food from suppliers and deliver it in bulk to community hubs in each borough.

HOW WILL FOOD GET TO PEOPLE? Each borough will create hubs to receive the surplus food, divide it into food parcels and deliver them to the doorstep of vulnerable Londoners.

WHO WILL GET FOOD? Boroughs are in touch with local charities, foodbanks and community centres as well as the government to ascertain who is most vulnerable and in need.

HOW HAVE THE FOOD REDISTRIBUTORS DIVIDED UP LONDON? Felix is responsible for co-ordinating surplus supply across 14 boroughs, FareShare 12 and City Harvest 7.

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