Help The Hungry: Jack Whitehall backs our campaign with photography competition to raise money for the vulnerable

Whitehall starts Stay at Home Burger Battle, where food enthusiasts are challenged to take pictures of their burgers

All money raised by Whitehall’s competition will go towards our Food for London appeal (Reuters)

Jack Whitehall today backed the The Independent's ambitious campaign to feed London during the coronavirus crisis.

While volunteering for The Felix Project, our charity partner, the comedian praised their “vital” work in responding to the hunger crisis in London.

Whitehall has launched his own competition, the Stay at Home Burger Battle, with his friend Marcus Petty-Saphon, to back our Food for London appeal.

Burger enthusiasts are challenged to photograph their dish and upload it to be judged by a panel recruited by the pair’s food blog, foodSlut.

All money raised by their competition will go towards our Food for London appeal, which supports The Felix Project in delivering food to frontline charities, vulnerable people and NHS staff.

The Bad Education star said “I had heard about the work of The Felix Project before, but only after I came here today to volunteer did I realise how vital it is.”

Whitehall and Petty-Saphon visited The Felix Project’s Enfield Depot on Friday to do an afternoon delivery shift in the pouring rain. They loaded a van with fresh meat, vegetables and fragrant cheese from Fortnum & Mason, with Whitehall joking “this is more exercise than I’ve done all lockdown”.

They stopped off at a Turkish and Kurdish cultural centre that has become a food bank for the local community. Volunteers were packaging food parcels to be distributed by cyclists to vulnerable people in the community.

So far, they had given out 1,236 food parcels, each of which could feed four people for one week. “Thousands have turned up since the start of the crisis. We help everyone. Refugees, unemployed, anyone of any ethnicity,” one of the organisers said.

The delivery van’s battery proceeded to die, forcing the pair to get behind the van to push it to a jump-start.

They also visited the Bruce Grove youth centre, where volunteers lined up for selfies with Whitehall. Paul, one of the co-ordinators from Haringey council, explained that the organisation used to offer activities and counselling to local young people.

Another of the staff said he played Fifa with a young person he helps, in order to keep in contact.

After a wet afternoon of volunteering, Whitehall said, “The need is so large now with this crisis, and what The Felix Project is doing in redistributing surplus food feels obvious.

“I hope that the Stay at Home Burger Battle, the competition I launched with my friend Marcus, gives a boost to this vital initiative.”

The Independent is encouraging readers to help groups that are trying to feed the hungry across the country – find out how you can help here. Follow this link to donate to our campaign in London, in partnership with the Evening Standard.

Jack Whitehall, his brother Barney and his friend Marcus Petty-Saphon have launched the Stay at Home Burger Battle to support our Food for London appeal. Enter online at foodslut.co.uk/competition