Dom – Environment winner

‘Good food goes in the bin every day’

FIVE years ago, a school drop-off proved life changing for electrician and dadof-two Dom Warren – and many local families.

Dom, 35, worked hard to provide for his family, but realised other kids were going into school hungry. He and wife Alexandria, 33, set out to help, and ended up tackling the issue of food waste at the same time.

“I found the idea of parents not being able to afford breakfast for their children devastating,” Dom says. “So, Dom’s Food Mission was born.”

Dom and Alexandria, from Hastings, called on friends and neighbours to drop surplus food to them on Saturday mornings, to boost the local food bank’s supplies. Now they reach 4,000 people every month.

Dom adds: “When M& S asked if we’d take its leftover food, I realised that companies were crying out for this sort of thing.

“We feed women and kids in hostels, refugees, pupils, the elderly. Good food goes in the bin every day, and it doesn’t have to.”

During lockdown, Dom and his team of volunteers have delivered thousands of food parcels to vulnerable people. They are also continuing the roll-out of their National Lotteryfunded children’s cookery school, A Helping Hand.