Food For London Now appeal tops £5.5m after hugely successful Hirst heart sale

Sales raise £1.5m to feed families struggling below the breadline With our sister title The Independent, we are getting food to those who need it: children, families, the homeless and NHS workers. Every £30 donated will deliver 165 meals to the most vulnerable hit by the crisis. You can donate to the Food For London Now appeal HERE

Our Food for London Now appeal to tackle hunger soared past £5.5 million today on the back of prodigious sales of the Damien Hirst rainbow butterfly heart design created especially for our campaign — which has raised more than £1.5 million.

The new landmark — reached in just two months since the launch of our campaign — has enabled the delivery of more than three million meals since lockdown to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable Londoners by our partner, The Felix Project.

The 1,376 tonnes of produce supplied by Felix since March 23, the equivalent of 3,276,190 meals, has ameliorated the deep distress of those unable to afford or access food — in particular families struggling below the breadline, NHS workers and the elderly.

The sum raised from the Hirst sales means that we are over halfway to our goal of securing £10 million for Felix to help food-poor Londoners over the next three years.

It is a pledge given added urgency by the latest jobless claims which have surged to over two million.

More than 4,400 people backed our campaign by purchasing the Hirst limited edition prints — with 3,109 buying the small size priced at £300 each and 1,299 the large size priced at £1,000 — and raising £1.55 million net proceeds for The Felix Project in the process.

Hirst said: “It’s amazing to see how people have pulled together and helped each other during this crisis.

“I am so grateful to everyone who has helped me do my little bit and bought a butterfly heart edition — it’s turned out to be a brilliant communal way to help raise money for The Felix Project and support their important work across London.”

Evening Standard proprietor Evgeny Lebedev said: “I have long believed in the power of art and this is a wonderful affirmation of that.

“With the support of Damien Hirst we have passed the halfway point in our mission to ensure no Londoner in any corner of the city goes hungry because of covid.”

Other substantial new donors to our campaign include management consultants McKinsey & Company, whose employees voted to make our appeal partner their charity of choice.

Olga Nefedova, associate partner, said: “We are making a donation to organisations helping our most vulnerable communities. The Felix Project is very much one of these organisations.”

So far, more than six million meals have been delivered by the London Food Alliance — established in response to the coronavirus pandemic and made up of Felix, FareShare and City Harvest — of which over half have been supplied by The Felix Project.

Mark Curtin, CEO of The Felix Project, paid tribute to the extraordinary all-round effort. “London was hit hard and fast — but oh, how it has stepped up and fought back,” he said. “We are inspired by the mobilisation of businesses, donors and supporters who have joined forces with our staff and volunteers.”

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