CASE STUDIES · A creative and can-do attitude to getting things done
Compassion London
Bringing a community together in a crisis
At the height of lockdown they were producing over 5,000 meals a day from Wembley Stadium. Today, the legacy lives on.
Fund type
Collective Fund
Amount raised/granted
£74,000
Years
2020
Background
Days before Covid Lockdown in the UK Leon posted on Facebook – he needed volunteers and a kitchen to cook meals with surplus food for Londoners. He wanted to cook 1000 meals a day for the needy, vulnerable and NHS frontline workers and he needed a kitchen.
Leon Aarts, a food campaigner, restaurateur and wholesale business owner had run kitchens for refugees in Calais using his expertise and any surplus food he could find.
He knew he needed to focus on operations and needed help with all the financial management and back-end office support to get his project going. So, he approached Prism for help and three days later Compassion London was ready to go.
Problem
When lockdown hit, there suddenly a huge demand on the NHS and the families who were already struggling. Soon they were in Wembley Stadium cooking seven days a week and there were plenty of challenges in the day to day running. Prism took care of all the administration, governance and managing donations. The speed with which the community came together and offered support was astounding.
In the background, Leon was dealing with cease-and-desist orders over the use of the Collective Funds name and someone trying to steal from him, all areas Prism supported him through.
“In my own words, I was just the fool that came and put the stake in the ground and said this is what we are going to do, that’s my role in life. I’ve done other things like this in Calais. And then the most beautiful people show up, who are a lot smarter in many, many ways than I am.”
–– Leon Aarts. Founder, Compassion London
“Setting up a charity by yourself is not easy. It takes a long time. You need a board, and you need to do the governance. Having Prism behind me meant I could just focus on what I’m good at.”
–– Leon Aarts. Founder, Compassion London
Impact
When lock-down came to an end, it was clear there was still a huge need in the area. One of his partner charity’s The Felix Project agreed to build a purpose-built kitchen in East London. They invited him to design the set up and his entire team of chefs and volunteers moved to the new locations.
Next Christmas they will celebrate making over 5 million meals using surplus food and donations.
“You kept us going through many shifts and we really enjoy your meals and you should consider yourselves heroes for doing the work you do. I hope you will have enough funding to keep going and helping all the people who need you.”
–– Queens Hospital Romford, Midwifery Department
Image Credits
All photographs provided by Compassion London.
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