Ayesha bringing Vital Meals to London’s needy

Ayesha Pakravan dreamed of being a chef when she was working as an estate agent.

Maybe it was working with all those zeros – but she’s worked out that since she set up her catering business, she’s made the equivalent of 60 metres of sausage rolls.

That, she calculates, is higher that the Leaning Tower of Pisa (or should it be pizza, in this case?)

The 27-year-old had just got her firm, The Plattery, in Burns Road, Battersea, going when lockdown wiped out all her bookings.

So she launched Vital Meals in March to feed vulnerable people across the capital during the Covid19 crisis.

Since then, Vital Meals has cooked and delivered more than 10,000 nutritious meals.

She feeds the elderly, high risk individuals, including NHS staff, key workers, children unable to access a cooked meals and people on low income.

She started on fewer than 20 meals a day, but orders have increased 10-fold and she found 15
volunteers and moved into an industrial kitchen to keep up with the growing demand.

Ayesha, pictured above, said: “When all of the bookings for my catering business were cancelled, I knew I couldn’t sit by and see people go hungry, which is why I created Vital Meals.

“The last three months have been a whirlwind, and what started out as a small initiative to help a few local people has snowballed into something far bigger and better than I ever imagined.

“The impact of Covid-19 on many families has been overwhelming, which is why the team and I are dedicated to helping as many people as we can.

“This week we reached our 10,000 meal milestone, but there’s still more work to be done.”

Initially, Vital Meals was entirely funded with small profits from Ayesha’s catering. But now she is asking for donations to keep Vital Meals, ahem, “rolling”.

Generous supporters have already contributed £25,000.

She said: “We’re committed to helping as many people as we can and hope that the British public can offer their support, so that we never have to say no to someone who needs our help.

“Hearing people’s stories and receiving letters of gratitude has been emotional to say the least, but it only spurs us on to keep doing more.”

Ayesha trained at Leiths School of Food and Wine, before starting The Plattery.

She has catered for private events and brands such as Facebook, Virgin and London Fashion Week – although the latter may not have taken to the sausage rolls much.

For more information or to donate, click here.

Vital Meals is for anyone needing the service. Click here for more information.

Contact hello@vitalmeals.org to apply or to volunteer.