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Asma Khan, a world-renowned chef and women empowerment advocate, has joined the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation as its first patron to support the charity in its mission to tackle food insecurity and generate meaningful positive impact on local communities across the UK and Ireland.
Khan, owner of the Darjeeling Express restaurant in London, is one of the world’s most prominent female chefs and UN World Food Programme advocate. She is passionate about female empowerment, championing women from diverse backgrounds through her restaurant, which is the only all-female Indian kitchen in the world.
Khan has published a number of cookery books and in 2019 was the first British chef to feature in Netflix’s Emmy-nominated Chef’s Table. In 2024 she was featured in the prestigious TIME magazine’s Top 100 most influential people.
2025 marks the 20th anniversary of the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation. As the first- ever patron of the Foundation Khan will provide valuable support and inspiration across projects that are tackling the underlying causes of food insecurity, such as skills development, resource accessibility, and community empowerment.
Khan commented: “It is an honour to collaborate with the Stop Hunger Foundation, an organisation whose mission deeply resonates with me. The fight against food insecurity has been a cause close to my heart for as long as I can remember. I look forward to working alongside the Foundation, its partners, and the dedicated team at Sodexo to support causes that matter profoundly to me. Together, I hope we can make significant strides in this invaluable work throughout 2025.”
In January 2025, Patrick Forbes, MD of Tech & Services at Sodexo UK & Ireland was appointed as the new Chair of Trustees of the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation following the retirement of Gareth John who held the position from 2016.
Forbes said: “Asma’s passion for empowering women, using her well-respected position in the global culinary community to effect real change, makes her the perfect choice to be patron of the Stop Hunger Foundation. We know that improving the social situation of women plays a significant role in the fight against food insecurity and this has been a long-term guiding principle of the charity.
“Through Asma’s patronage we hope to inspire more of our colleagues and partners to participate in the wide range of volunteering opportunities we make available and I am confident that by working with Asma the Foundation can have its most successful year yet in the UK and Ireland.”
The Stop Hunger Foundation was launched by Sodexo UK & Ireland in 2005 with the mission to fight food insecurity and build a better tomorrow.
In the UK and Ireland the Foundation, a UK registered charity, extends its support beyond food aid through fundraising, grant-giving, volunteering and partnering with national and hyper-local charities to ensure funds reach those with the greatest need.
In October 2024 the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation published its annual impact report revealing that over the course of the 12 months to 31 August 2024 it had supported some 2.8 million people by redistributing more than 160,000 meals and dedicating 56 per cent of its funding to projects targeting the root causes of food insecurity.
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