Tuesday, King's birthday, public holiday in Falklands; Charles will launch the Coronation Food Project

Saturday, November 11th 2023 - 11:55 UTC

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The occasion, 75th birthday of the monarch, will be marked by King Charles as the cover star of the Big Issue magazine, which helps the homeless.

The Falkland Islands Government has notified that Tuesday 14th November will be a Public Holiday for His Majesty the King’s Birthday. All Government Departments (other than those providing essential services) will be closed.

The occasion, 75th birthday of the King, will be marked by King Charles as the cover star of the Big Issue magazine, which helps the homeless.

According to an advance from the Palace, the King will highlight his Coronation Food Project, to be officially launched 14 November, aiming to help those in need of food, while at the same time reducing surplus food being thrown away.

“Food need is as real and urgent a problem as food waste,” King Charles will say in the Big Issue.

It wants to address the growing problem of those who cannot afford food, at the same time as tackling the widespread waste of perfectly good food.

“If a way could be found to bridge the gap between them, then it would address two problems in one,” the King tells the Big Issue, in the edition to be published on Monday.

“It is my great hope that this Coronation Food Project will find practical ways to do just that - rescuing more surplus food, and distributing it to those who need it most.”

The project says there are 14 million people in the UK facing food insecurity, with food banks warning of rising demand.

The Trussell Trust charity said this week that 1.5 million emergency food parcels were given to people by its food banks between April and September 2023, a 16% increase on last year. Almost two-thirds of these were for families with children.

But alongside this growing need, millions of tons of food are thrown away unused, so the project aims to bring together supermarkets, farmers and distributors to save more of the food that otherwise might be discarded.

There are already 8,500 local charities trying to share surplus food, and the Coronation Food Project wants to set up regional distribution hubs to make this a more effective network.