The Felix Project

The Felix Project is a London-based charity that redistributes surplus food from retailers, manufacturers, distributors, markets and farms to charities, schools and community groups. Founded to address food waste and food insecurity, it operates a network of warehouses, vans and volunteering schemes to collect, sort and deliver edible food that would otherwise be discarded. The organisation interacts with a wide range of partners across the humanitarian, retail, public health and philanthropic sectors.

History

The organisation emerged amid debates influenced by figures and events such as Jamie Oliver, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Rowntree Foundation, Food Standards Agency, BBC, Guardian Unlimited, The Independent, Evening Standard, City of London Corporation, Greater London Authority, London Assembly, Labour Party, Conservative Party, Sadiq Khan, Boris Johnson, London Fruit and Wool Exchange, Westminster City Council, Mayor of London, Big Society Network, Civil Service debates and campaigns on food poverty and waste. Influences include publicised campaigns like Feed The 5000 and initiatives from organisations such as FareShare, Trussell Trust, Oxfam, Save the Children, British Heart Foundation, Shelter, Age UK, Charities Aid Foundation. Early supporters and collaborators referenced organisations including Tesco, Sainsbury's, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, Asda, Morrisons, Iceland, Co-operative Group, Aldi, Lidl, Ocado, and market operators at Borough Market, New Covent Garden Market, Billingsgate Market.

Mission and Activities

The charity's mission aligns with agendas advanced by institutions and campaigns such as Sustainable Development Goals, UNICEF, World Food Programme, Food and Agriculture Organization, European Commission, DEFRA, NHS England, Public Health England, NHS, Royal Society for Public Health, Institute of Directors, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Between the Lines publications, London Sustainability Exchange, Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth, WWF-UK, Keep Britain Tidy, ReLondon. Activities mirror models from FareShare, The Trussell Trust, FoodCycle, Khan Academy (operational training analogues), Volunteer Centre Camden, Volunteer Centre Islington, National Citizen Service, Timebanking UK, Do-it.org and include food collection, logistical redistribution, volunteer coordination, health-oriented education and community outreach. The project also engages in public information alongside media outlets like ITV, Sky News, Channel 4, Channel 5.

Operations and Logistics

Operationally, the charity integrates supply chains and cold-chain logistics similar to practices in Royal Mail, DPDgroup, UPS, DHL, Sainsbury's Logistics, Tesco Global Supply Chain, Amazon and municipal waste strategies influenced by Transport for London interfaces. Facilities and vehicles are organised alongside transport hubs such as Heathrow Airport, London Gateway, Tilbury Docks, Feltham depot, and make use of warehouse management practices seen at Prologis. Volunteer and staff training draws on standards from Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, Institute of Food Science & Technology, Health and Safety Executive, British Retail Consortium guidance, and food safety protocols similar to those used by Marks & Spencer. The organisation interacts with distribution nodes including community kitchens associated with The Felix Project partners and local actors such as Southwark Council, Islington Council, Camden London Borough Council, Tower Hamlets London Borough Council, Hackney, Lewisham, Waltham Forest, and uses refrigerated vans similar to fleets owned by Evri (formerly Hermes), Iceland Foods Logistics, and Ocado Group.

Partnerships and Funding

Funding and partnerships include collaborations with supermarkets and retailers like Tesco PLC, Sainsbury's Supermarkets Ltd, Marks and Spencer Group, Asda Stores Ltd, Iceland Foods Ltd, Co-operative Group Limited, Waitrose & Partners, Ocado Group plc, Lidl GB GmbH, Aldi UK; philanthropy from foundations such as Wellcome Trust, Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Lloyds Bank Foundation, Garfield Weston Foundation, Barclays Foundation, City Bridge Trust, Big Lottery Fund (formerly), Comic Relief and corporate giving from Google UK, Amazon UK Services Ltd, Meta Platforms, Microsoft Corporation, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Barclays PLC, HSBC Holdings plc, Deloitte, KPMG International, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ernst & Young. Public sector and institutional partners have included NHS England, Public Health England, local authorities across London boroughs, and national initiatives from DEFRA and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. Academic partnerships draw on research from London School of Economics, King's College London, University College London, Queen Mary University of London, Goldsmiths, University of London, Imperial College London, City, University of London.

Impact and Evaluation

Impact assessments and evaluations reference methodologies and reports by Office for National Statistics, House of Commons Library, National Audit Office, Institute for Fiscal Studies, Resolution Foundation, Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Centre for Cities, New Economics Foundation, RSA, IPPR, Nesta, Social Audit Network, Big Society Capital, Charity Commission for England and Wales, CAF, GuideStar UK datasets. Measured outputs include tonnes of redistributed food, meals delivered, beneficiaries served, carbon savings benchmarked against studies by Committee on Climate Change, DEFRA, and Environment Agency. Evaluations cite comparable metrics used by FareShare, Trussell Trust, Oxfam, World Food Programme impact assessments, and academic analyses from University of Oxford, University of Cambridge, University of Manchester, University of Warwick. Independent audits and media coverage have connected the charity's performance to broader policy discussions involving Food Waste (Reduction) Act-style proposals, parliamentary inquiries in the House of Commons, and stakeholder events convened by Nesta and Institute for Government.

Category:Charities based in London