London retailer ties up with schools to donate free food parcels

A London independent retailer has been making a difference in his community by donating free food parcels to struggling families during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kaual Patel, who runs Torridon Convenience in Catford, has embarked on the mission after a local primary school made a request for a donation to help families feed their children whilst they are not in school.

Patel initially donated enough goods to feed 25 families of the children at Torridon Primary School. He then went on to provide a further 40 food parcels to Sandhurst Junior School, the school he’d attended as a child 30 years ago.

“After Torridon School asked for a donation I assumed that if families were struggling there, then more would be struggling at other schools and so I approached Sandhurst School to offer some help,” he said.

The parcels contain tinned vegetables, baked beans, pasta and long-life breads.

“We are fortunate; we are still in work and are in a position whereby we can offer some help to those affected by COVID-19 and so we wanted to help our local community,” Patel said.

The retailer, whose family has run Torridon Stores for almost 40 years, is now planning a second wave of donations which he hopes will help even more families in the neighbourhood.

“The teachers from the schools we’ve helped keep popping into the shop and shouting ‘thank you’ to us – it means a lot to know we have helped, and we want to do more,” he added.