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News

TRH meet homeless people and volunteers in South London

19th December 2006

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall today met homeless people and volunteers who will be helping them over Christmas.

Their Royal Highnesses visited the FareShare depot in South London which redistributes food from supermarkets that would otherwise be thrown away.

The depot sends fresh fruit, vegetables and other nutritious meals to homeless and vulnerable people in the community.

The Prince and The Duchess were shown some of the mince pies, carrots, potatoes and pasta being delivered today.

FareShare operates in 52 towns and cities and provides more than 16,000 meals to disadvantaged people every day.

The Prince pulled a cracker with 52-year-old Mary Abdullai, from Peckham, who works as a cook in a homeless hostel in Waterloo.

She said afterwards: "I was the one that said 'Let's make a joke and pull a cracker'. I'm not sure who got the toy - we didn't even look. He said I should check."

Chef Peter Wellfair seized the opportunity to pull a cracker with The Duchess.

The 50-year-old said: "I said to The Duchess 'If your husband's going to do it, would you like to pull a cracker too?' and she said yes."

He told her how he cooked about 70 meals a day and today would be making Bolognese and carrot soup.

Mr Wellfair added: "I said it was very important to keep this going and she agreed.

“She asked me if I made different pasta sauces and I said sometimes I have to be a little bit creative."

Their Royal Highnesses saw Tesco deep-fill mince pies laid out ready to be packed into a van and sent to hostels and day centres.

Marks & Spencer, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Nestle all take part in the scheme.

The food is within its best before date, but may have damaged packaging or be an end-of-line promotion.

Tim Walter, who works in the Bermondsey warehouse, also met The Prince and The Duchess.

He volunteers in the warehouse four days a week and used to be homeless himself.

The 46-year-old, who is originally from Newport, South Wales, talked afterwards about how FareShare had provided him with an essential lifeline.

"It was my main meal of the day. It was very vital, especially to get good quality food.

“When you're on the street your immune system is down. It gives you quality warm food. You need it to survive."

Mr Walter, who was named the charity's volunteer of the year, now lives in a Salvation Army hostel.

The Prince and The Duchess met the volunteers and staff who collect, check, sort and deliver around 500 tonnes of food in the London area alone each year.

Afterwards The Prince, as President of Business in the Community, and The Duchess visited the Deptford Churches Centre, a day centre working with homeless, vulnerable and marginalised people in the community.

Their Royal Highnesses toured the centre and joined regular clients and centre volunteers for a cup of tea and a chat.