Food For London Now: We must feed the capital this Christmas

7.15pm in London’s West End: 300 queue for food
Lucy Young

Dear London,

This Christmas is like no other. Eight months of battle with the virus has devastated our economy, divided families and led to a tragic loss of life.

The photograph above, taken in Agar Street, Charing Cross at 7.15pm on Friday, shows that in the centre of London in 2020, in one of the richest cities in the world, more than 300 desperate people will huddle in the rain and the cold to get a hot meal.

This year, when we write our cards and light our homes, we need more than ever to consider those who have lost so much in this crisis.

I am thinking of the newly unemployed, who have found themselves without the means to support themselves.

Our homeless population, whose services are more stretched than ever. And children who have lost months of their childhood and, in some cases, the meals on which they depend. But there is also cause for hope.

I am inspired by the volunteers, organisers and donors who have come together to make our Food For London Now Campaign the most successful in our newspaper’s history. And a vaccine is  on the way, which promises a return to normal life.

So this Christmas I am asking you, Londoners, to back us in our push to combat food poverty in the capital.

We will continue to support the work of The Felix Project — we need your help to fulfil our plan of providing 100 million meals annually to end hunger by 2024. And to combat the daunting increase in poverty in our capital, we will also be preparing and delivering hot meals ourselves to charities and individuals until Christmas, from our state-ofthe-art food trucks.

None of us can imagine that what we see on the streets, or read in the news, has no bearing on our own lives. The virus has shown the extent to which we are all connected now.

Better days will come, but for now we need to brace for a tough winter.

We should not expect that the Government has the answers. We Londoners need to help each other as we always have. Let’s make the solution to this growing hunger crisis a community one .

The Evening Standard won’t give up on London. We know that you won’t either.

Evgeny Lebedev

Proprietor, Evening Standard

Let’s Feed London Now

This November and December, together with our sister title The Independent, we will be delivering food directly to 1,000 Londoners a day through our partner With Compassion. Please donate here to help ensure no Londoner goes hungry this Christmas

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