The Diary: Bicester Village X The Felix Project Charity Dinner

Beautiful people, a glorious setting, festive bonhomie — and a thoroughly brilliant cause. What fun!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas — well, down at Bicester Village at least. Last night, at a special dinner with the brilliant Felix Project hosted by Gentleman’s Journal, the lights glowed softly, the trees dripped with gold, and there was that just-perceptible note in the air — spiced cinnamon? Free champagne? — of things turning jolly. The bonhomie and goodwill flowed freely, too — not least because the cause was so particularly inspiring.

Hearing from Felix Project co-founder Jane Byam Shaw, we learned of the quite frankly staggering work that the charity is able to perform, thanks to its remarkable network of volunteers, chefs, and indomitable do-ers. (Just one stat that bears particular repeating: The Felix Project delivered enough food for 21 million meals last year alone…)

The setting was particularly poignant. Felix, the inspiration for the charity, had grown up in nearby Oxfordshire, and often played football just down the road. During one tournament, in fact, he was so shocked that players on the opposing team hadn’t eaten that day that he put his pocket money into buying some donuts as a post-game snack. That spirit of community continues to this day, and the charity now sets out to change the regular experience of hunger for millions of people in the UK, using the surplus food that is thrown away across the country.

To celebrate a new partnership with Bicester Village and the charity, guests — including Roxy Horner, Riana Horner, Harrison Osterfield, Sherrie Silver, Vanessa Vanderpuye, Eric Underwood, Diego Bivero-Volpe, Charlotte Carroll, Dennis Okwera and Brett & Scott Staniland — gathered in the festive environs of the private Apartment at Bicester Village, before a quick trot down to the Farmshop Café and Restaurant for pumpkin risotto and spit-roast chicken with seasonal green vegetables. It was a resounding success, for a thoroughly worthy and ever inspiring cause — and a jolly reminder that the spirit of the fast-approaching Christmas season is about giving above all else.

To find out more about the Felix Project, and how you can get involved, click here.

Brett and Scott Staniland

Brett and Scott Staniland, Vanessa Vanderpuye, Roxie Horner, Riana Horner

Cam Mackintosh and Toby Watkins

Harrison Osterfield

Dennis Okwera

Archie Manners, James Gartshore Boulter, Archie Hewlett

Vanessa Vanderpuye

Roxie Horner and Harrison Osterfield

Sherrie Silver and guest

Brett Staniland, Luke Newberry, Dennis Okwera, Eric Underwood, Scott Staniland

Jane Byam Shaw

Leon Aarts, Head of Felix’s Kitchen, and Marcus Roberts, Relationship Manager at the Felix Project

Eric Underwood and Sharifa Butterfly

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