City Harvest: Part of the Fabric of London

Part of the Fabric of London: weaving a colourful tapestry with our special edition fleet

City Harvest celebrates His Majesty, King Charles III’s Coronation with our greatest ode to London: our special edition union-flag fleet of food rescue vans, supported by our London landmark partners.

Currently, in London, a staggering 1 in 4 people currently face food poverty. Each van in our fleet is a symbol of our lasting ties to London, and the impact and hope that our drivers’ hand-deliver to our community of 375+ grassroots charities across 29 boroughs.

Why is supporting a City Harvest van so important?

The annual impact of one City Harvest van equals:

• More than 500,000 meals delivered to partner charities.
• £1M worth of food, delivered for free to community organisations.
• Improves the health and well-being of more than 2,000 people per day.
• Prevents more than 800 tonnes of greenhouse gases by diverting 210 tonnes of surplus food from landfill.

These special edition vans are supported by City Harvest’s friends and financial donors who are helping our frontline mission to fight food poverty and food waste across the capital.

Wimbledon Foundation

Our Wimbledon Foundation van, launched in March 2023, is the newest edition to the fleet. Its iconic green and strawberries, symbolise our long-term relationship with the All-England Lawn Tennis Club. Learn more about our historic partnership with the Wimbledon Foundation here.

Artemis Charitable Foundation

The Artemis Charitable Foundation is one of City Harvest’s earliest and most committed supporters. The fund manager’s foundation has supported since 2017 and funded a food rescue van for the last three years. To date, the Artemis van has delivered over 2 million meals to Londoners facing food poverty. Learn more here.

Fabric of London: working with London’s Livery Companies

Feeding London in a time of crisis. City Harvest’s relationship with the London Livery Company dates to COVID-19 when the Livery Kitchen Initiative was established. This initiative saw top chefs create nourishing meals to feed people most in need across central and east London. These meals were distributed by City Harvest vans from the New Spitalfields Market site in east London.

The Vintners’ Company

The debut special edition van marked Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee in May 2022. The Vintners’ Company used Vintners’ (grape) purple for the occasion, and aptly named the van ‘Queen Elizabeth II’. Read more about the Vintner’s Company ‘Jubilee’ van here.

London Livery Initiative

In December 2022, The Livery Charity Chairs group formed a pan-Livery company initiative in support of City Harvest, to help tackle food poverty. In March 2023, the Lord Mayor presented the keys of the Livery Food Initiative van to City Harvest chairman, Stephen Winningham, at Mansion House.

The Livery Food Initiative van is a symbol of the emergency we are facing in London. The need is greater than ever, and we are working 7 days a week from depots in east and west London to deliver free surplus food for over 1.25 million meals a month to people facing food poverty.

Learn more about City Harvest’s work with the Livery Food Initiative here.

Rabobank

The iconic Dutch orange distinguishes our Rabobank-supported van. City Harvest’s partnership with Rabobank is built on a strong foundation of sustainability, social impact, and a growth mindset. Hear from UK CEO, Will Jennings, here.

Rabobank has a heritage in farming and agriculture and is a farmer-led cooperative. The co-operative value is one that’s esteemed by the team at Rabobank. Rabobank staff frequently volunteer in our Acton depot and are avid supporters of what we do. Learn more about City Harvest’s work with Rabobank UK here.