On March 5th 60 members from 30 Livery Companies joined the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs outside Mansion House to celebrate the Lord Mayor handing over the keys to a 7.5 tonne Truck to City Harvest Chairman Stephen Winningham.
The Lord Mayor hands keys of newly funded 7.5-tonne food rescue truck to Stephen Winningham, City Harvest Co-founder and Chairman of the Board
The Truck will rescue an additional 520 tonnes of surplus food a year from City Harvest’s farm, distributor and wholesale partners across the country. It will enable more food to be collected from further afield and so help reduce food waste and feed the 1 in 4 people in London who can’t afford to eat.
At the launch Lord Mayor Alderman Michael Mainelli commented:
‘Everywhere I go, I hear about the great supportive work of City Harvest. In 2023 alone, that amounted to almost 13.2 million meals, worth a staggering £20 million in retail value’.
The Livery Food Initiative has now raised £155,000 of the £270,000 needed to keep the truck on the road for three years. 40 Companies have contributed since the appeal for funding for the Truck was launched last June. The Truck and the Van the Livery Food Initiative funded last year are now two key players in City Harvest’s food rescue fleet.
The truck and some of those who gathered to witness the launch outside Mansion House.
The Livery Food Initiative is also encouraging members of Livery Companies to get in touch with City Harvest if they know of contacts who might have access to healthy produce that would otherwise go to waste, either from the farm gate or other food outlets. Since its launch, the Truck has already been travelling across the country (Hereford and Kent were early destinations) collecting much needed food Livery members have sourced.
For further information please contact Hilary Lindsay.
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