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Closed 04/01/2021
Food for Nought

British Army Veteran calls for help to fight food poverty

Cocoa's Christmas Appeal: British Army Veteran battles back from the streets to declare war on hunger.
£1,374
raised of £10,000 target
Donations cannot currently be made to this page
Closed on 04/01/2021
RCN 1179699

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Story

Cocoa Fowler didn't have an easy start to life - he was raised in the care system, leaving school in 1983 to serve in the Royal Artillery. As a gunner Cocoa served his country for 15 years including a tour of Iraq.

After leaving the army Cocoa established a successful business overseas but felt an irresistible pull to help others in need, leaving for Sri Lanka in 2005 to volunteer with the tsunami relief effort.

It was after his return to the United Kingdom that Cocoa began to struggle with physical and mental health issues, losing his job and eventually becoming homeless. It was only when he approached a charity for help with food that he saw light at the end of the tunnel and after being asked to help as a volunteer driver he found a new passion and an idea for a new charity, Food for Nought.

Today Cocoa's Peterborough-based charity 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 have helped tackle food poverty and have redirected over a thousand tonnes of food from landfill. All of this was achieved with a couple of second hand vans and without a premises.

And yet with the success it has not been easy. In May 2020 Cocoa was hospitalised with Covid-19 and pneumonia, but continued to steer Food for Nought, ensuring food has been supplied to those in need throughout the pandemic.

Today Cocoa needs your help. Despite there being plenty of surplus food for the team to redistribute, the charity is crippled by running costs. Maintaining and fuelling his 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.

Please make a donation to Cocoa's Christmas Appeal today and share his story. Your generosity could help him keep his vans running and perhaps even find a home for the charity. Help him to continue his fight against hunger.

Food for Nought is a registered charity number 1179699.

About the charity

Food for Nought

Verified by JustGiving

RCN 1179699
One man, one van, one year - One hundred tonnes of food diverted from landfill and delivered to the needy in Peterborough. For the last twelve months, Cocoa Fowler has been a man on a mission – Helping to divert tonnes of potential food waste from landfill, to those in need in Peterborough, with his company, Food For Nought. Cocoa is partially disabled himself, but his armed forces background has stood him in good stead, overcoming his own pain to help those less fortunate than himself. He started out with a battered old car and borrowed trailer, collecting surplus food from willing retailers and producers, before then delivering it to community food fridges and charities. With the help of local businesses and charities he has now secured a sign written van and is looking to expand his pick-ups and deliveries, open a shop and offer cookery courses. To do all this, Cocoa needs help, both financial and physical. “Due to my condition I can only spend three of four hours a week picking up potential waste food and delivering it to the charities that are feeding the needy, on any particular day. But I have only just scratched the surface – There is thousands of tonnes of surplus food out there that could be put to better use and there is certainly a need in the community.” Cocoa has been helped by a number of retailers and food producers in Peterborough who have gifted Food for Nought their excess produce

Donation summary

Total raised
£1,374.00
Online donations
£1,374.00
Offline donations
£0.00
Direct donations
£1,264.00
Donations via fundraisers
£110.00

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