Electric van to help charity deliver 50,000 meals to homeless people

A charity will be able to deliver an extra 50,000 meals to homeless people on the streets of London after being gifted an electric van.

The Thomas Franks Foundation – which runs Feeding Communities, a programme named a Big Issue Changemaker in 2025 – took delivery of the cutting edge vehicle at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in March.

The van will ease the load on the current Feeding Communities trolley, which has seen its wheels replaced at least eight times, and allow them to more than double the number of meals they give out.

“This first-of-its-kind electric vehicle will become the linchpin of the Thomas Franks Foundation’s operations in London, allowing us to reach more people in need when they need us,” said Frank Bothwell, CEO and founder of Thomas Franks.

Launched during Covid and led by professional chef Dean Collins and director Raj Singh, the Feeding Communities initiative delivers hot food to those experiencing homelessness in the capital.

The team’s rounds around central London previously involved a 200kg hand-pushed trolley, laden with lasagne, vegetable curry, rice pudding and more.

On one of their nights handing out food in 2024, Singh and Collins told Big Issue they were looking at a golf cart to change the game – but that the £20,000 needed to purchase it would be hard to come by. 

The van was donated by Barings, an asset management company worth £320billion, as part of £425,000 it has donated to Feeding Communities in the past five years.

The extra capacity will mean Barings employees can volunteer with Feeding Communities.

“We are very proud to support the Feeding Communities program and are delighted to be able to donate this vehicle to enable the delivery of more meals and support even more people in our community,” said Alex Sutherland, CFO of Barings Europe.

Homelessness charities have warned rough sleeping in London is “as bad as it’s ever been.” Statistics from January show a total of 4,612 people were counted as homeless on the English capital’s streets from October to December last year, a 5% increase on the same period in 2023.

Almost half of those were people sleeping rough for the first time, and the number of people living on the streets over a long period increased by 26% in the space of a year.

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