100 cooks, 625 delicious meals, eight frontline charities supported and £6,500 raised.
On Wednesday 17th September, London’s iconic Borough Market was alive with energy, laughter, and the irresistible aroma of freshly cooked food as London professionals came together to cook 500 meals for the capital’s homeless and vulnerable.
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Tackling food poverty
Our supersized charity cooking challenge, Feed the 500, was organised in support of Plan Zheroes, a charity dedicated to tackling food waste and poverty in the capital by redistributing surplus food from businesses to community organisations.
With 6.6% of London households facing food insecurity, and the equivalent of 1 in every 50 Londoners living homeless or in temporary accommodation, more frontline charities and service users rely on Plan Zheroes’ work than ever.
Yet, as businesses tighten their belts in the face of high running costs, sky-high interest rates and increased national insurance contributions, Plan Zheroes is receiving fewer surplus donations, making it difficult to deliver the same level of support. This is why events like Feed the 500 are so important, fundraising relationship manager, Dee Vadukul, told us ahead of the event.
Cooking for a cause
Under the expert guidance of chefs, Shannon McAuliffe and Ruby Hazel from Emerge Cookery School, participants rolled up their sleeves and got to work.
Employees from Equippd Ltd, TIAA, Portfolio, Atomico, Cloudinary, Target Lifts and IGXGlobal UK Limited were among the businesses that put their culinary skills to the test in support of the event.
In just three hours, the teams managed to create 625 nutritious meals from scratch – 500 for those in need, and 125 meals for participants and organisers to enjoy together in celebration of their efforts.
This included:
- 1,055 spring rolls fried to perfection
- 20kg of Portobello mushrooms turned into 12.5kg of pâté
- 31kg of oyster mushrooms cooked
- 18kg of rice noodles used
Participants sampled their culinary efforts while representatives from each of the frontline charities took to the stage to share more about their work.
A lasting impact
The 500 meals were distributed to eight frontline charities, who collected the meals to distribute around their service users:
| St Mungo’s | A charity that works directly with people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, providing services from rough sleeping support and emergency accommodation, to finding a longer-term home and providing skills and training to get people into work. |
| Draper Together | An inclusive community hub dedicated to fostering connections in the heart of London SE1, offering a food hub, education support, educational activities and creative workshops. |
| Blackfriars Settlement | Working within London’s SE1 borough of Southwark and the wider community to create opportunities to make life better, and to build inclusive community. Support ranges from mental health and wellbeing to digital inclusion. |
| Oasis Waterloo | A supportive community offering education to local children and young people; a foodbank; debt advice; family growth support and youth leadership mentoring to transform the lives of disadvantaged young people. |
| The People’s Army | A voluntary group supplying food parcels to those in need and helping other charities and organisations with food aid and cooked meals. The People’s Army supports those experiencing homelessness, low-income families and people with disabilities and mental health needs. |
| The Neurodiversity Family Hub | A non-profit organisation helping neurodivergent people, especially under the age of 18 years old, and their supporters to lead happy lives in a caring community. It provides specialised clubs for children and young people as well as expert advice, advocacy and parental groups. |
| Vauxhall Garden Community Centre | A community hub serving a diverse population, particularly low-income families, young people, elderly residents, and marginalised groups. The charity operates an open-access foodbank and offers a safe, inclusive space where people can access essential support and take part in cultural, educational, and wellbeing activities. |
| Lucy Brown House | Lucy Brown House is home to 36 elderly and vulnerable residents. Its Leaves Breathe project aims to improve existing green spaces for local communities, especially where there is less opportunity for, or access to, funding for community green spaces. |
Feed the 500 participants also raised £6,500 to help fund Plan Zheroes’ vital work.
Matt Griffin, marketing and events manager at Borough Market, commented: “We were so pleased to host and support Feed the 500. As a charity with community at its core, it’s important that everything we do serves not only our visitors and traders, but locals and wider communities too.
“We’ve worked with Plan Zheroes for over 10 years, providing surplus food from over 50 traders at the end of each day. It’s a charity that so many of us across the market are proud to be a part of and it was fantastic to see such unity and support for the cause at such a challenging time.”
A member of the TIAA team said: “[Feed the 500] was absolutely brilliant – honestly, one of the best work events I’ve been to.”
“[Feed the 500] was absolutely brilliant – honestly, one of the best work events I’ve been to.”
Commenting on the event, Team Tactics founder and MD, Tina Benson, said: “Feed the 500 is one of my career highlights in nearly 30 years of running the business. Seeing the London business community rally with such enthusiasm has been inspiring, and it proves that, when organisations come together with purpose, we can create a real impact.”
Not only did the event allow eight frontline charities to get healthy, fresh food to those who need it most, it also had a profound impact for the businesses taking part. It gave them the opportunity to learn about London’s food poverty crisis and some of the important charities and organisations working hard to make life better for affected communities.
Beyond its charitable impact, Feed the 500 provided a powerful team building experience. Colleagues were required to perform under pressure and work effectively as a team to achieve the 500-meal feat.
In fact, research shows that team building experiences like this can contribute to better long-term communication and collaboration, as well as improved trust, morale and colleague relationships.
“Feed the 500 wasn’t just about giving back – it was about bringing people together,” reflected Tina, “The day was a fun, memorable and gave teams a renewed sense of connection, purpose and pride in what they’d achieved together.”
To learn more about our CSR team building events, or organise a charity cooking event for your team, get in touch today.
