Santa Stair Climb Archives

How Wharfers can climb 48 storeys of One Canada Square to help charity feed hungry Londoners

The Santa Stair Climb is back at One Canada Square in aid of The Felix Project

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Having filled the stairwells in One Canada Square with a sea of green last year, Wharfers are once again being invited to take on the tower to raise money for charity.

The Felix Project’s Santa Stair Climb is set to return to the heart of Canary Wharf on December 8, 2024, with participants challenged to scale 48 storeys of the building on foot.

The reward?

A spectacular view across the capital and the knowledge that the cash you’ve raised will help save surplus food from the bin and be redirected to feed Londoners in need.

The Felix Project's Will Savage, right, completes the climb last year — The Felix Project’s Will Savage, right, completes the climb last year

a surge in need

“We’ve experienced a real surge in need this year, and we know that winter is going to be really tough for many people across London,” said Will Savage, head of corporate partnerships at The Felix Project.

“We are London’s largest food re-distribution charity.

“We rescue high-quality surplus food that can’t be sold and would therefore go to waste and deliver it to about 1,000 community organisations, such as food banks, homeless shelters and primary schools – all working on the front line to feed people who are experiencing hunger in the capital.

“A lot of that work is done locally in Tower Hamlets where we deliver to more than 100 organisations and dozens of primary schools.

“We know that more than half of working families are having to turn to food banks to put food on their tables.

“Unfortunately it is a problem that’s getting worse.

“We’ve moved from a pandemic straight into a cost-of-living crisis and we know that’s having a devastating effect on communities across London.

“We also found in our survey that one in four working families are struggling to feed themselves, and for one in seven that’s a daily struggle.

“This demand means many food services are buckling under increased pressure and that’s why The Felix Project wants to save more food and feed more people.”

This year's event is set to take place on December 8 — This year’s event is set to take place on December 8

how the Santa Stair Climb contributes

To do that, like any organisation, it needs both cash and volunteers.

After launching last year, the Santa Stair Climb is the charity’s flagship fundraising event with capacity for 1,000 participants.

In addition to an entry fee, climbers commit to raising £300 each for the charity – a sum that could provide 825,000 meals for Londoners in need should the maximum number of people take part.

“It’s a really great way for people to support our work and help feed Londoners in need,” said Will. “I went up last year and it was amazing.

“When you’re at the bottom, 1,031 steps feels like a lot but it was great to get to the top and to see the support that was there.

“It’s Santa-themed, so we provide a Felix green Santa outfit for everyone in the spirit of Christmas, which also recalls the fact that Santa was green originally.

“There’s a fantastic atmosphere at the top and beautiful views. Participants’ families can even come along for the celebration.

“We’re hoping as many people as possible sign up this year because it really will have a huge impact on what we can do.

“The climb takes about half an hour to complete although that will vary by who’s taking part.”

The Felix Project gathers surplus food that would otherwise go to waste

filling the stairwells

Last year saw hundreds of participants take on the challenge – a mixture of corporate supporters and individuals.

“The Santa Stair Climb is both challenging and rewarding and Morgan Stanley is looking forward to taking part again this year as we continue to support The Felix Project,” said Anish Shah, Morgan Stanley’s managing director, global capital markets.

The Santa Stair Climb is part of Canary Wharf Group’s ongoing collaboration with The Felix Project, which kicked off in 2023 with the launch of the partners’ Green Scheme.

Will said: “We know CWG aims to achieve net zero by 2030 and one way is to help reduce food waste.

“In the first year of the Canary Wharf Green Scheme, we got seven restaurants signed up.

“In practice, teams of people pick up food from retailers and outlets based on the estate and they take it by bike or electric van directly to organisations who are feeding people in the vicinity.

“In that first year we saw 118 individuals volunteer with us, which equates to 26,000 hours of work and this meant that over 6,900kg of food was redistributed.

“That’s about 16,500 meals that we’ve been able to rescue and save from going in the bin.

“The mission to tackle the twin problems of food waste and hunger really resonated with me – it’s why I wanted to join the charity.

“Seeing what it does, it’s not difficult to understand it’s very valuable.

“I remember going to our Park Royal depot at the time to meet the team and see what it was about.

“Seeing the volumes of really high quality food that would have otherwise gone to waste made me think how insane it was that this resource was available but could have gone to landfill, even though people are hungry.

“Having been here for four years and seeing the need is still growing, I know there’s still much more that we need to do.

“I’m really proud to play a small part in that mission.

“You never quite get used to the idea that food would have been thrown away if it wasn’t with us.

“It’s great that The Felix Project is there to redistribute it and make such a difference to people’s lives at the same time.”

Slots are still available for the Santa Stair Climb so Wharfers can play their part in supporting the charity’s work.

The Felix Project is also looking for volunteers on an ongoing basis to support its activities.

Find out more about its work here

Participants in the Santa Stair Climb get a hat and T-shirt as a memento of their challenge

key details: the Santa Stair Climb

The Santa Stair Climb is set to take place at One Canada Square on December 8, 2024, with half-hourly waves of climbers starting at 10am.

The final wave will set off at 2pm.

Individuals can participate for £30 each, while groups of four can book in for £100 (£25 per head).

The fundraising target for each person taking part is £300.

Find out more about the challenge here

The charity distributes food and meals to charities and organisations across London

case study: EastendHomes – why the Santa Stair Climb matters

>> The housing association provides homes to people based in Tower Hamlets.

In early 2020 it started offering a food service to just a handful of residents but now supports around 225 households a week.

EastendHomes’ community engagement manager, Paul Wilson, said: “We get new people each week.

“The hardest thing for us and our volunteers, is when we have to send people away.

“That is always dispiriting, but at least we are doing what we can.

“The service we provide could not happen without the ongoing support of The Felix Project.

“We would not be able to afford to give people this food – if each bag is just £10 worth, it would cost thousands of pounds a week to fund.

“That’s why it’s so important that Felix gets more support and funding, because it means we can do this and fewer people get turned away.

“This service is helping. We supplement people’s budget and that might give a family a bit of slack in the autumn to buy their kids school uniform, a pair of shoes or a treat for a child.

“All parents want to do that whenever they can and Felix is permitting that, it’s wholly positive.”

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- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com

Challenge will see participants scale 48 floors of One Canada Square to raise cash for the charity

The Felix Project’s first Santa Stair Climb will take place in November 2023

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What links green Father Christmas hats, One Canada Square and the distribution of unwanted food to people in need?

The answer is the Santa Stair Climb in Canary Wharf on Sunday, November 19, 2023, and anyone can take part.

As part of its ongoing partnership with Canary Wharf Group, food rescue charity The Felix Project is challenging people to a sponsored walk up a total of 1,031 steps at One Canada Square to reach the tower’s 48th floor.

With early-bird registration just launched, there are 1,000 places up for grabs at £25 per person, with each individual given a fundraising target of £300.

Participants receive a personalised green shirt and Santa’s hat to wear during the challenge, with ascents expected to take just over half an hour on average.

“I’ve been training for it, but I’m not sure I’ll be doing it that fast,” said Tanya Mitchell, director of income generation and marketing at The Felix Project.

“But I will complete it, even if it takes me an hour.

“We’ll have staggered start times between 10am and 2.30pm with 100 people in each wave so the stairwell doesn’t get too busy.

“Participants are asked to arrive an hour beforehand and we’ll be running activities in the lobby with a warm-up and an MC overseeing things.

“We’ve also been gifted the use of the 48th floor for the day, which has the most outstanding views over the London skyline from near the top of the third tallest building in the UK.

“They really are exceptional and this is a rare chance to see them.

“We’re hoping to raise as much money as possible, but we’ve set ourselves a target of £300,000 for this first event.

“That would equate to us being able to make and distribute 870,000 meals to Londoners.”

Participants will take on 48 floors of stairs at One Canada Square

For those who don’t know, The Felix Project is the largest charity of its kind in the capital, collecting food that would otherwise be wasted and redistributing it via a network of organisations to those in need.

“Right now it’s estimated that there are 1.2million people in London living with food insecurity or in food poverty – about 20%,” said Tanya.

“Through our own research with YouGov, we looked at people on low incomes earning an average salary of £20,000 and it’s shocking that one in 10 of them has only £2.95 a day to spend on food.

“We work with more than 500 food suppliers, rescuing produce from farm gates, grocers and the hospitality industry to supply really good, nutritious, fresh meals.

“We operate through four depots in London, taking that food in hour-by-hour, day-by-day, six days a week, 12 hours a day to help serve the needs of more than 1,000 charities and organisations in the capital.

“What that £300,000 would mean is that we’ll be able to pick up thousands of tons of food, take it into a depot, sort it and then immediately get it out to hundreds of organisations where it will be given to people in need of a good meal.

“Here in Tower Hamlets – one of the most deprived boroughs in the country – we work with 90 organisations through out Poplar depot.”

The Santa Stair Climb is the flagship event in The Felix Project’s long-term partnership with Canary Wharf Group, which was announced earlier this year.

There are up to 1,000 place up for grabs with successful climbers rewarded with views across London from Canary Wharf’s tallest tower

“We started off by launching The Green Scheme, which means we’ve been able to go out to the retailers and hospitality businesses on the estate to collect food that would otherwise be wasted, from them,” said Tanya.

“An army of volunteers takes it from those businesses to community organisations to distribute five days a week.

“It’s a pivotal relationship for us because while we want to fight hunger in London, we also want to fight food waste and there is complete sympatico between us and Canary Wharf in its commitment to sustainability and its aim to reach net zero by 2030. We’re part of that solution.

“The Santa Stair Climb is a first for Felix and CWG – it’s exciting and exhilarating to be planning an event for 1,000 people and we want it to be a hero event for London.

“Originally, in the 1800s, Santa’s costume was green so we’re re-appropriating that for the event.

“I can’t wait to see 1,000 people all in green climbing those stairs and we really want to thank CWG and everyone involved for giving us this exclusive opportunity.

“The 48th floor isn’t normally open to the public, so this is a very special event.

“The 1,000 slots will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis and I’d also like to say a big thank you to everyone who is considering entering – it’s going to be a fabulous event, a really magical day.”

Those keen to take part can go to santastairclimb.com for more information or scan the QR code at the bottom of this page.

The Felix Project’s director of income generation and marketing, Tanya Mitchell

For those unable to participate, there are many other ways to get involved with The Felix Project, which last year delivered some 29million meals to those in need and is expecting to distribute 30million this year.

People working in Canary Wharf or those living locally can still volunteer for the Green Scheme.

Roles include drivers, co-drivers and walkers to collect food from businesses on the estate and deliver them to community organisations.

Volunteers are also needed at The Felix Project’s Poplar kitchen and warehouse to prepare ingredients, portion and package meals for onward delivery.

Tanya said: “Last year we had 8,500 people step up to the plate to help us in our efforts to defeat food waste and hunger in London.

“We are an organisation that’s powered by volunteers and we are so grateful to them because demand for our services is rising.

“We anticipate that we will rescue 13,000 tonnes of food this year, but the UK wastes 3million tonnes – only 7%-8% is currently rescued, so we can always do more.

“Just before the pandemic, The Felix Project was distributing around six million meals a year. Now it’s five times as many.

“The other change is that now key workers are accessing the community organisations we supply like food banks and community pantries. It’s a big problem.

“Ultimately it is our mission not to exist and we are part of conversations with organisations that are working with the government to address the issues of food insecurity and poverty.”

Find out more about the Santa Stair Climb or sign up here