King Charles to open new food distribution hubs on his 76th birthday as part of new project
by Catherine Wylie PA · ChronicleLiveHis Majesty the King will celebrate his 76th birthday by inaugurating two hubs aimed at rescuing and redistributing tonnes of surplus food. Coinciding with his birthday celebrations next Thursday, the monarch will personally open one of the first two Coronation Food Hubs and the other via a virtual event.
This initiative, marking the first anniversary of the Coronation Food Project, seeks to bolster charities like FareShare and the Felix Project in their efforts to provide for communities using food that might otherwise be wasted. At the hub His Majesty is set to visit, there will be a "surplus food festival" showcasing dishes concocted from what would have been discarded fare.
During his visit, Charles will explore the new facility, engaging with the beneficiaries and those involved from diverse organisations such as food banks, schools, and community groups. The Coronation Food Project plans to develop a network of such hubs, enhancing the warehouse capacity, increasing cold storage facilities and improving transportation with more lorries, vans and drivers.
In addition, Charles will inspect a newly installed industrial freezer which is expected to amplify the charity's storage ability by a significant 400%. Buckingham Palace highlighted that the Coronation Food Project revolves around three core pillars: salvaging more excess food, "supercharging" distribution networks via a hub network, and thus ensuring that this food reaches the most in need.
The third goal is to deliver a flexible funding programme to support the wider sector and a consortium of "pioneering food-rescue initiatives". The palace has announced that "remarkable progress" has already been made towards achieving the project’s three objectives, highlighting that the project has already saved an additional 940 tonnes of surplus food – equivalent to 2,240,000 meal portions.
A total of £15 million has been raised to design, build and run a network of up to 10 hubs across the UK. The initiative has also awarded £715,000 in community food grants to 33 organisations across the UK.
This includes a grant to East Belfast Mission which runs a variety of food related projects, including a daily community fridge for people to collect high quality fresh surplus produce each week, and UKHarvest’s Grub Club which involves pupils and parents in distributing surplus food to schools. An impact report, detailing the work of the Coronation Food Project, will be released on Thursday.
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