Mark’s 10,000-mile ride delivering surplus food

“I saw a few tomatoes and aubergines rolling away one icy day,” he remembers.

Twice a week, whatever the weather, Mark heads up to Walkley on his cargo bike to collect surplus fruit and veg waiting for him at the Beanies wholefood shop.

A long-time customer at the Walkley shop, in the early days of Covid he asked the cooperative if he could pick up some of their unsold (but perfectly edible) stock every few days on his new e-cargo bike, and take it down into the city for people who might need it.

He’d realised that organisations helping many of Sheffield’s less fortunate citizens to get a decent meal were struggling with supply. His first trips were to the Archer Project at Sheffield’s Anglican cathedral.

“He’s fantastic,” says Talya Stitcher, from the Archer Project.

At that time, during the lockdowns, Mark had little of his usual work as a commercial photographer, and he realised he had time to do something to help Sheffielders in need of food and help.

Mark has continued the collections and deliveries ever since, traveling over 10,000 miles on his Tern e-bike (and two trailers) while carting away up to 100 kilos of assorted wares every trip, often at 6.30 in the morning before he catches a train to carry out his photography work across the country.

The pick ups help Beanies too, said Charlotte Head from the cooperative, as it means they can use their surplus fruit and veg to help the city, and also staff can plan their shelf stocking knowing the older produce gets taken away regularly.

Mark is now working with Untitled Print in Heeley on posters illustrating a year’s deliveries, to be sold in aid of the Archer Project’s range of services to support people trying to move away from all kinds of homelessness.

A former Royal Marine, Mark has spent many years working and volunteering with people in various stages of homelessness.

Tragically many of the people he meets are former armed services personnel, he says.

“These are not bad people. But they are frustrated they’ve got no voice. Say hello, or smile. That might be all it takes to help them feel better.”

The idea of a rough sleeper on a park bench is only part of the story, he explains. Homeless people might be sleeping on friends’ couches, or their actual home might be unsafe for various reasons.

People using the Archer Project’s food and advice services are often younger than they were in the past, says Talya, and more women are now attending too.

Numbers of people using the services have increased from 913 in 2022 to 1,223 last year, with meals served to project users rising from 13,607 to 24,445 over the same period.

Over recent months, Mark has also been supplying surplus Beanies food to parent and baby groups at St Mary’s Church, and to the Food Squad project, which grew out of the city’s Food Hall scheme, and now serves a three course meal every Friday at the Showroom Cinema.

The Friday volunteers prepare vegan meals from Mark’s deliveries (and some bought stock) for up to 70 people a week.

Organisers stress the meals are open to all, with diners including students, supporters of the project and people dealing with food poverty and social isolation, as well as homelessness.

Mark and Talya are now working out demand for different print sizes and costings for the special prints to be sold in aid of the Archer Project, and ask anyone interested to contact [email protected] (The prints should cost around £20 for A3, and £35 for A2).

After making some food collage test prints, families he knew asked Mark for copies, partly because they look great on their wall, but also because they said their younger children loved picking out the bright colours of all the different produce.