Big Mike keeping the hungry fed in Croydon this winter

Restaurateur Big Mike Springer has prepped, cooked and delivered meals to 100 of Croydon’s homeless community.

Big Mike’s Calypso Kitchen, which only opened in July, works with local charity Croydon Night Watch fortnightly to feed the hungry.

During the week Mike, pictured, serves the community, he matches every meal sold in his restaurant as part of his Challenge Focus 100 initiative.

He said: “No-one should go hungry in our own back yard. Just one meal will make the world of difference. Feeding our community unifies society.”

What struck Mike most of all was that around 70 per cent of the queue was made of people from the BAME community, no doubt affected by the global pandemic.

Big Mike appeared on BBC1’s Morning Live, and presenter Gethin Jones said: “There needs to more Big Mikes in the world.”