King champions food poverty project on working birthday

King Charles III was greeted by staff at the Coronation Food Project hub on the first engagement of his birthday

King Charles has marked his 76th birthday by opening a new hub in south-east London as part of his project to distribute surplus produce to people in food poverty.

The King is treating his birthday as a working day and travelled to Deptford on the first anniversary of the Coronation Food Project which aims to make better use of food that would otherwise be thrown away.

He was greeted by volunteers who waved flags and cheered. Later, a group of schoolchildren sang Happy Birthday and presented him with a homemade card.

Ceremonial gun salutes were fired to mark the monarch's birthday at Green Park near Buckingham Palace and at the Tower of London.

The King sat with a group of schoolchildren, talking about school lunches

So far, the Coronation Food Project has rescued 940 tonnes of surplus food, estimated as enough to make 2.24 million meals.

A further 1,900 tonnes has been donated by partners of the project, equivalent to 4.5 million meals.

Charities, including the Felix Project and FareShare, can collect food from the new hub in Deptford and take it to help individuals and community groups.

The food comes from places such as supermarkets or the catering industry - and rather than wasting good quality unsold products, it is used to help those facing food poverty.

The King attended a "surplus food festival", with meals created from food that would otherwise have gone to waste.

He sat with a group of children from Peckham's Rye Oak Primary School, who will benefit from the new hub, and listened to them talk about the foods they enjoy, asking about their school lunches.

Asked if he would be putting his feet up for his birthday, he said: "Not quite."

At the end of the conversation, he said: "I hope you have a very happy Christmas."

He opened a second hub, in Knowsley, Merseyside, virtually, saying: "Please give my kindest wishes to everybody there.

"I hope it makes an enormous difference to all their remarkable work that they do."

He then unveiled plaques for both hubs.

Three more hubs are due open in the next year, with £15m raised to create a network of up to 10 across the UK.

There was some glamour for the King ahead of his birthday, as he attended the premiere of British director Sir Ridley Scott's new film Gladiator II, on Wednesday.

Queen Camilla missed the screening as she is recovering from a chest infection.

“I think I’m on the mend - but these things always take a bit of time," the Queen said at a reception for Booker Prize-shortlisted authors on Tuesday.

The King is continuing to be treated for cancer but wants to keep focusing on his work, royal aides have said.

Although he has been on the throne for only two years, he is now the sixth longest-living British monarch.

The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery fired a 41-gun salute at Green Park for the King's birthday