Balanced Ramadan - Healthy eating and community

Ramadan is a time of reflection, community, and sharing. It’s also a time when thinking about food, energy, and nutrition can feel more important than ever.

Balanced Ramadan was a community project built around that idea. Not about changing the way people eat, but about finding small ways to make traditional food a little more nutritious, without losing any of the flavour or meaning behind it.

Nutritionist Shaymaa stirring the giant pot of her lamb curry recipe at the Felix Project kitchen

From kitchen to community

In February 2026, we arranged for local nutritionist Shaymaa Mohammed to join The Felix Project’s Poplar kitchen for a morning of cooking with their staff and volunteers.

The Felix Project didn’t just provide the space. They supplied all the ingredients, perfectly edible rescued surplus food that would otherwise have gone to waste, and worked alongside Shaymaa and our volunteers throughout the day.

The halal meat used in the recipe was donated by Muslim Aid, whose generous support made the project possible.

The workshop

The following day, Shaymaa hosted a relaxed workshop at Poplar Union, sharing practical ideas for Iftar and Suhoor, preparing food ahead of time, and cooking in ways that support energy and hydration while fasting. There was also space for people to share their own tips and experiences.

Everyone who attended left with one of the meals prepared the day before in the Felix kitchen. The remaining meals were shared with the wider community through Poplar Union, St Paul’s Way Community Centre, and Burdett Mosque. The project was open to everyone, whether you were observing Ramadan and preparing to eat Iftar, or simply fancied trying something new for dinner.

More from our day at The Felix Project

A group of volunteers join Well One at The Felix Project kitchen in Poplar - ready to cook for the Balanced Ramadan project

Volunteer cooks go over the Healthy Lamb Curry reciperecipe with the Felix kitchen chefs

Volunteers and Felix Project staff are busy in the kitchen prepping ingredients, cooking and organising the kitchen equipment

Close up photo of the delicious Healthy Lamb and Veg Curry being cooked

Shaymaa presents a workshop offering healthy and nutritious Iftar and Suhoor ideas for thos observing Ramadan

A crate full of our healthier curry and rice meals, all packed up and ready to deliver to community spaces

Who we worked with

This project wouldn't have happened without three brilliant local organisations, our amazing group of volunteers (who were fasting on cooking day, by the way!), and the community centres that helped to distribute the meals.

Take it, then make it

Alongside the events, we put together a small recipe leaflet called Food to Share. It includes the Healthy Lamb and Veg Curry recipe from the day, alongside a handful of other tasty, nutritious dishes.

The focus is on cooking at home, preparing ahead, and making the most of what you have. It was designed with Ramadan and Iftar ideas in mind, but works just as well at any time of year.

Online recipe leaflet

It was a wonderful experience cooking in the Felix kitchen - commercial cooking for the first time. I think my worst job was peeling the onions! But I thoroughly enjoyed it and the team made it more pleasant as always. It didn’t look like we had prepared enough meals, so it’s amazing that 6 of us created almost 400 meals. I picked up a couple of boxes myself, it was deliciously colourful!

It was a pleasure to collaborate with The Felix Project and Well One on the ‘Balanced Ramadan’ campaign. As a nutritionist, I demonstrated how a traditional dish, such as lamb and vegetable curry, can be adapted to support health while preserving its cultural identity. Seeing the community engage, receive meals, and take away practical strategies for balanced eating during Ramadan highlighted the real impact of this project in supporting both wellbeing and food accessibility.

Ramadan is a time when food and community really come together, and this project reflected that beautifully. It was wonderful to see our kitchen being used in this way, and to know that the meals we prepared together ended up on people's tables that evening.

Balanced Ramadan was a perfect example of what happens when local organisations come together with a shared idea. We were glad to be part of it and to open our doors to the community for the workshop and meal collection.

Shazia, Volunteer

Shaymaa Mohammed, Nutritionist

The Felix Project

Poplar Union