Renowned celebrity chef and television personality Dipna Anand, alongside Attic Self Storage, made a remarkable impact at the Surplus to Supper charity market this Saturday, raising £1,800 and donating 100 meals to help address food poverty and food waste in the local community.

The event, held at the Sunbury Cricket Club, featured Dipna hosting a pop-up stall on behalf of Attic Self Storage, a new business in the area. As part of a community initiative, Attic Self Storage created the stall at the market to raise funds for Surplus to Supper to expand its operations within Surrey and neighbouring areas.

Dipna passionately prepared over 200 portions of her famous Makhani Chicken on the morning of the market. The meals were sold on a “Buy One, Feed One” basis, where for every meal purchased, an additional meal was donated to someone in need. With a goal of donating 100 meals, the target was met with 100 meals sold, ensuring a corresponding 100 meals were given to those facing food insecurity.

Surplus to Supper actively sources and redistributes surplus food that would otherwise go to waste, on a substantial scale, in London and North Surrey. The charity currently collects and donates on average 10 tons of food per week, transforming surplus food into meals redistributed to food banks, schools, care homes, shelters, refuges and more. Due to the rising cost of food and the resulting increase in food insecurity, the charity has been under increasing pressure to expand its reach.

In addition to the meal donations, Attic Self Storage pledged to match each purchase with a monetary donation, with each meal sold at £8.95. The matched donations contributed to a fund aimed at covering the cost of a new industrial blender for the charity, essential for its operational expansion.

After hosting the stall, Dipna says: “You can just feel the love and sense of community in Sunbury. It was amazing to see so many people come out to support their community. It was an honour to work alongside the Surplus to Supper kitchen team and see all the surplus ingredients be brought to life with my recipe.”

This initiative is the latest in a series of community campaigns from Attic Self Storage, with the company continuing to focus on supporting the communities it operates in via outreach projects that give back.

Sophie Bagnall, Marketing Director at Attic Self Storage says: “Having worked with Surplus to Supper over the last few weeks, we can see how hard they work to bridge the gap between food poverty and food waste in Sunbury, and we wanted to support them on their journey to expansion. We are ecstatic to have reached our aim of selling 100 meals and raising our target amount so that the charity can purchase the equipment they need to continue the fantastic work they do.”

Claire Hopkins, Operations and Development Director of Surplus to Supper adds: “After seeing such huge demand for meals from our kitchen, we knew we needed to respond to those in need by expanding our operations. When Attic Self Storage approached us to offer their help and contribution for new equipment, we were absolutely thrilled. As usual, we are hugely appreciative to the locals of Sunbury for coming down and supporting this initiative with purchases of the meals, and even more so to Attic Self Storage for donating such a generous sum.”

A special Surplus to Supper-themed edition of Dipna’s recipe is now available to view on the Attic Self Storage website at: https://www.atticstorage.co.uk/blog/cooking-for-a-cause/

Attic Self Storage has launched its latest storage facility at 8 Hanworth Road, Sunbury. In line with their commitment to community support, the Sunbury store team has chosen Surplus to Supper as the charity to receive a £5 donation for every new customer that moves in.