February 2026 Newsletter

Hello ! Welcome to your monthly update from The Food Chain

Most of our team are front and centre, and you will usually see them whizzing around at Eating Together; making cups of tea, sorting out donations and handing out hugs. There are other members of the team, not so well known, but whose work ensures that there are enough funds available so that we can continue to offer services like Eating Together and keep the tea flowing.

Last year saw not just one, but two positions filled in the fundraising space. Paul Tomlinson came in to replace Richard Mills as our Grants and Fundraising Manager in April, and in February Helen Cleverley stepped across from covering Clare's Volunteer Coordinator parental leave, becoming our Community Fundraising Coordinator.

Both have now been nearly a year in post and we wanted to ask them how their first 12 months in their respective roles has been.

Paul

"This is my 20th year of working in fundraising within the charity sector. I joined The Food Chain 10 months ago as the Grants and Fundraising Manager and I have really enjoyed it – not least because of the excellent people involved with the charity. My role entails researching relevant Trusts & Foundations and submitting applications with the aim of obtaining grants for our work. The charity relies heavily on this income stream which means it is both challenging yet rewarding too.

Over the past year it has been satisfying to see new funders (as well as existing ones) supporting our work but we can always do with more. In spite of the difficult economic climate – which has impacted funders and their giving – when making a grant application I keep in my mind’s eye the fact that we are here to serve our wonderful Service Users and so every pound really does count. A stand-out memory of the past year has been experiencing our Eating Together (ET) meal service. It is such a wonderful and positive activity and when funders have attended it they seem to think so too, as they have often followed up their visit by granting us money!"

Helen

"This is my 10th year of involvement with the Food Chain and it’s been an incredible journey! I originally started as a volunteer kitchen assistant at Eating Together. I became a staff member in 2023, as the Community Café Manager, and then after a short break stepped in while Clare was on parental leave to cover the Volunteer Co-ordinator role. I am now the Community Fundraising Co-ordinator, 1 year under my belt. I think the best way to sum up my role is to say that I talk a lot and arrange lots of fun activities for people to take part in! Many events most people will be aware of, such as the Covent Garden Bake Sale, World AIDS Day fundraising and the Carol Service, but I also work very closely with our corporate and community partners; arranging baking days for groups to come in, food drives, challenge events such as the London 10K, quizzes, bingos and themed events in Soho such as the Harvest Festival.

I absolutely love events and the variety of the day-to-day means there is never a dull moment. There’s nothing better than seeing everything come together, watching people smile, hearing the messages of love and support, it makes the world feel a better place, and that’s something we really need right now.

I’m really looking forward to expanding on everything we achieved last year and make this year another heartfelt and successful year for the Food Chain community. PS – I can still be found taking on the occasional Lead Cook shift in the kitchen. Old habits die hard!"

We are very lucky to have two such enthusiastic and talented individuals in our team and we hope to keep them for a long time to come!

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Individual giving is a lifeline to The Food Chain. As little as £5 a month would make a huge difference in ensuring we can continue to provide our vital support - for every pound donated we spend 89p on charitable services. Setting up a payment is simple: just visit our donation page and select the “I’d like to give regularly” option to get started.

"Coming to Eating Together was a game changer for me. It was the first time I could be around people with a shared identity and not suffer discrimination as I have done in the past. I made friends from coming along and have socialised with them outside of the session."

With best wishes,

Allan Anderson

Chair of Trustees