14 July 2021 – City Harvest’s Laura Winningham is awarded an OBE by HRH Prince of Wales at a St James’s Palace investiture for her service to the London community, as co-founder of food redistribution charity. Steve Winningham, City Harvest co-founder and vice chair, accompanied Laura.
HRH Prince of Wales awards Laura Winningham, accompanied by Stephen Winningham, with an OBE.
Est. 2014, City Harvest was founded to connect an unsettling amount of commercial surplus food with those facing hunger, providing a logistical solution to help to alleviate food poverty and food waste in the capital. 7 years on, Laura and her team have provided over 22 million meals to those who need it most, via 350+ greater London charities and projects.
The honours mark Laura and City Harvest’s considerable impact on London throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, as the food redistribution charity mobilised as an emergency response unit throughout intermittent lockdowns, and a challenging year overall.
“Receiving royal recognition for putting meals on the tables of thousands of Londoners”, ITV reports
Laura reiterates City Harvest’s unrelenting mission in London, as her legacy continues under the leadership of CEO, David Carter.
“The need isn’t going away any time soon, but there is so much surplus out there, and the key is, as the Prince of Wales recognised, to donate that food because we can put it to use immediately.”
Congratulations to Laura and comrades; Dr Ganesh Suntharalingam OBE and Dabirul Choudhury OBE, and all of those receiving well deserved honours.
About City Harvest London
Est. 2014, City Harvest rescues nutritious surplus food from manufacturers, suppliers and retailers, delivering for free to 350+ London charities feeding the hungry. The charity’s 3 core pillars are: feeding the hungry, reducing greenhouse gases, providing life changing support to community/ charity groups in every London borough.
City Harvest enables food companies to have immediate positive social impact by aligning with a sustainable solution to industrial surplus food.
Recipient groups include, Homeless shelters, hostels, soup kitchens, mental health groups, the elderly, community kitchens, schools, family centres, children’s programmes, and domestic abuse refuges.
City Harvest tripled in size in 2020 to meet the demand of people facing food poverty, now distributing free food for more than 1 million meals a month.