Sports coach gives up time to feed needy people of South London

By Tom Hussey

A sports coach has given up his spare time since March to single-handedly deliver unsold food to those in need – on foot and by bike.

Ronald Grant, of Trefoil Road, Wandsworth, who grew up in care in the borough, realised he didn’t have the support networks around him at the beginning of lockdown, so he decided to turn his attention to help those who needed it most.

He started an independent food delivery service in March, picking up unsold food from supermarkets and delivering it to homeless shelters, community centres and individuals.

Mr Grant said: “I felt very afraid because people were stockpiling and I felt (if I needed supplies) that I would only have strength in numbers.

“I became concerned for those who were in a similar predicament to myself, but had no way to help themselves.

“I was able to access an abundance of food including bread during the lockdown, I would take it to food banks in the early morning and I would carry a shopping trolley full of bread by train.”

As well as helping the homeless, Mr Grant has also helped people such as bus drivers, train staff and the elderly, who can fill bags with the food from his trolley at their leisure, wherever they see him.

He reckons he has helped hundreds of people.

As well as bread, he also provides everything from tea to tinned food.

And while Mr Grant has had help from his neighbours, he carries out most of the deliveries singlehandedly on foot and by bike.

He has established relationships with a number of supermarkets, including Gregg’s, Co-Op, Aldi, Lidl and M&S, but others have been harder to convince because he is not a registered charity.

Mr Grant, who is a sports coach by profession, says that while tackling food poverty is the ultimate goal, he is also tackling food waste.

Find out more about Mr Grant here.

Pictured top: Ronald Grant