The Beginning

The Buckingham Emergency Food Appeal began at Christmas of 1985 when we took our children to the theatre in London and saw the homeless sleeping under Waterloo Bridge. We found out that  Crisis at Christmas was providing a Christmas dinner and shelter for homeless people and we as a family volunteered to help them over Christmas. About two weeks before Christmas I called Crisis and said “We’re farmers. Would you like us to bring any food ?”. That’s how it all started. That first Christmas we collected £750 worth of food, put it on a small lorry and took it with us to London for Christmas dinner. We’ve been doing it ever since”.

Mike Buckingham  (founder) on BBC Radio 4’s Food Programme, 7 December 1997

2025–26

This year we will be celebrating the fortieth anniversary of Mike Buckingham’s charity.

We know that many of our partner charities are facing difficulties, including increased demand and limited resources.

We will be marking our anniversary, by increasing our efforts to support over 200 charities across the country with wholesale donations of free, healthy food.