Peterborough Army Veteran battles back from Covid and launches Christmas Appeal to combat hunger in the city

Cocoa with one of his deliveries to a foodbank

Cocoa ((55) founded the charity in 2017 with the aim of cutting down food waste in the city, diverting tonnes of potential food waste from landfill to the mouths of those who need it.

He was inspired to do so after volunteering with charity Food Cycle and noticing the amount of food waste large companies were producing.

Today, Cocoa’s Food for Nought delivers surplus food from local farmers and supermarkets to food banks, hostels and community fridges.

With a team of trustees and right hand man Neil Crowson, Food for Nought has helped tackle food poverty and redirected over 1200 tonnes of food destined for landfill.

All of this has been achieved with a couple of second hand vans and without a premises.

Volunteering to help others also gave Cocoa a way to get his own life back on track after falling on hard times following his release from the Army.

He was raised in care and joined the Royal Artillery, aged 18, in 1983 and served his country faithfully for 15 years, completing a tour of Iraq and reaching the rank of Gunner.

Cocoa was hospotalised with Covid and Pneumonia in May

He spent time in Ibiza as a rep following this but after seeing the devastation caused by the tsunami that hit Sri Lanka in 2004, he decided to travel over to Asia to help relief efforts.

After his return to the UK a year later he picked up a few security jobs but began to struggle with physical and mental health issues, losing his job and eventually became homeless.

It was only when he approached Food Cycle for help with food and subsequently became a delivery driver for them, that he saw light at the end of the tunnel and found a new passion, prompting him to start a charity of his own,

He said: “I got myself a couple of security jobs but I ended up falling on hard times, like so many ex-service people, and eventually was on the streets.

“I got involved with Food Cycle though and it was through them I made all of my contacts to help me find somewhere to stay and get back on my feet, I feel like a completely different person.

“It was also there I noticed the amount of food waste that could have been put to much better use.

“I know the whole community is struggling at the moment so we are really keen to help.”

In order to make sure Food for Nought can continue to help as many people as possible, Cocoa has launched a Christmas Appeal to raise much needed-funds.

Despite there being plenty of surplus food for the team to redistribute, the charity is crippled by running costs. Maintaining and fuelling their ageing vehicles is a daily struggle with little funding available and without a premises they are unable to scale up and store more food for distribution.

Cocoa is doing all of this while still fighting the after effects of having Covid-19 himself.

He was hospitalised for two weeks in May with Covid-19 and pneumonia.

He said: “I still don’t feel 100 per cent but if you don’t get up every morning and do something, then that is when your mental health starts to suffer.

“Things had been growing really fast at Food for Nought though and we now serve 10 fridges in Peterborough and five over in Huntingdonshire.

“I think for many, the effects of the pandemic are still going to get worse before they get better and because of this we have found ourselves three or four times as hard as normal. This has caused a massive drain on our resources and we haven’t had any help from the government.

“We have been relying on grants and the support of family and friends.

“That’s why we are putting out the appeal so we can carry on diverting as much food waste as we can.”

To support Cocoa’s Christmas Appeal visit www.justgiving.com/campaign/CocoasChristmasAppeal.