PC: Wembley Stadium
A chef’s Facebook post asking for volunteers and a kitchen helped launch a food project that went on to prepare more than 5,000 meals a day at Wembley Stadium during the COVID-19 pandemic. Leon Aarts posted the request days before the UK lockdown, hoping to use surplus food to make 1,000 meals a day for Londoners. The project has provided more than 4.5 million free meals to Londoners since 2020, according to Prism the Gift Fund (2025). The project expanded quickly, and six weeks after the post, the team was preparing more than 5,000 meals a day from Wembley Stadium. About 20 members of his core team moved there, and Felix’s Kitchen opened in July 2021. It continues to prepare 4,500 meals a day using surplus food collected by The Felix Project in London.
Because demand for the work was expected to continue after COVID, the charity wanted a permanent kitchen.
When Aarts realised he needed help setting the project up, he approached Prism through a contact, and the fund said it could help. He said the arrangement eased the administrative burden on him and his team, allowing them to focus on running the food project. The project faced logistical and staffing challenges, and Aarts said someone tried to steal money from it. Aarts said the project was never the work of one person.
The response grew quickly, and about six weeks later, the team was cooking at Wembley. The work involved hundreds of volunteers, chefs and drivers, as well as daily cooking and deliveries. The effort brought together volunteers, chefs and drivers to prepare and distribute food during the pandemic in the first weeks of the national lockdown period. The arrangement was established within two or three days. Aarts chose to operate as a Collective Fund rather than establish a charity independently. The project operated seven days a week and involved coordinating hundreds of volunteers, chefs and drivers. Its first kitchen soon became too small, so the Chair of the Football Association offered Wembley Stadium as a new base. The team continued cooking throughout the move. donations did not cover every ingredient Although surplus food was central to the operation. The organisers needed to raise money for supplies such as tinned tomatoes and rice. They also had to manage kitchen and delivery rotas, maintain social distancing and follow COVID rules. He described his role as starting the effort and bringing people together, while volunteers and partners made it possible to grow. One organisation he worked closely with was The Felix Project, which provides meals for people in London. Aarts designed and built the kitchen. The kitchen brought together Compassion London and The Felix Project.
