Help the Hungry: The Crown’s Lady Diana joins campaign making ‘incredible difference’ to people’s lives

Actor Emma Corrin comes aboard our state-of-the-art food truck in its first outing at north London’s Ringcross Community Centre Food Bank, Arjun Neil Alim and Francesco Loy Bell report

British actor Emma Corrin helps Paul Kimpson distribute cooked food outside Ringcross Community Centre Food Bank, Islington (Lucy Young)

The Independent’s Christmas appeal revved up with a visit from The Crown’s Lady Diana, who praised “the incredible difference” our food is making to the lives of the nation’s vulnerable people.

Emma Corrin, who plays Princess Diana in the new season of The Crown, joined us at north London’s Ringcross Community Centre Food Bank, where more than 100 people were queuing for food.

The actor donned personal protective equipment to help volunteers as they served chicken and aubergine curry to people in need in the community.

Lyndsey Wylie, the founder of the Alexandra Wylie Tower Foundation, which manages the food bank, said: “We used to be a surplus food bank that served around 15 families, then Covid arrived. Now we have 120 to 150 people.”

“Standing in a queue for two hours for a food bank is a very difficult experience, especially for people finding themselves in this position for the first time. But I’ve never seen the crowd as happy as today”.

The visit marked the first time The Independent’s state-of-the-art food truck was deployed to distribute free hot meals to Londoners suffering from food insecurity.

Katie Catt, 41, a client of the food bank who also volunteers there, lost her job as a property manager at Moreland Estate Management at the start of lockdown. She used to make £40,000 per year and is now struggling as a single mother to support her three-year-old son while on universal credit.

“I’m going for interviews, but I’m one of 100 people going for each job,” she said – explaining that she suffered with depression after becoming unemployed. “Without support from the food bank, how would I support my son?”

Also queuing up for a hot meal was Abdul, who was there to collect food for his neighbours in his apartment block who are unable to leave home. “I support 12 to 16 people. Without this food they would have struggled,” he said.

The Independent’s food truck is distributing free hot meals to the nation’s vulnerable and the organisations that help them until Christmas. The food is prepared by our charity partner With Compassion, and the truck is supplied by Food Truck Masters, who run the Together19 Street Vendor initiative.

With Compassion cooked from the kitchens of Wembley Stadium and Alexandra Palace using ingredients from The Felix Project. Its founder, Leon Aarts, also started a charity that fed refugees in the Calais “jungle”.

The Independent’s food truck helps parents feed their children while looking for work (Lucy Young)

Emma Corrin says Help the Hungry ‘is making an incredible difference’ (Lucy Young)

“I have pictures of Lady Diana all over my flat”, Tempesta Vittorio, an 86-year-old pensioner who lives alone in Islington, told Corrin admiringly. “You’ve probably got more than me!”, the actor responded.

Corrin said: “I’ve become increasingly aware of the depth of the hunger crisis in the country throughout lockdown. Campaigns like this are so important at the moment. Serving 15 million meals during lockdown and aiming to do 100 million per year by 2024 is just incredible.”

“My message to people would be, as we go into winter and potentially a third lockdown, is to really try and come together in your communities. In terms of what Help the Hungry is doing, it’s making an incredible difference. If you have time, which we all have lots of at the moment, then contact them and see how you can help!”

This November and December we will be delivering food directly to 1,000 people a day through our partner With Compassion. Please donate here to help us do all we can to ensure no one goes hungry this Christmas.