3 days Ago
A married couple from Sussex have both been awarded an MBE in a rare feat - for stopping thousands of tonnes of food from going to waste. Dominic and Alexandria Warren, from St Leonards-on-Sea, have been recognised in the 2025 New Year Honours list. The couple are each receiving an MBE for their services to the eradication of food waste and poverty.
Founded in May 2015, they set up Dom’s Food Mission to help people in their local community who are facing food insecurity. The charity focuses on redirecting surplus food, which would otherwise go to waste, to those in the community who need it. The charity works on a number of projects to support those suffering from food poverty within the community (Image: Dominic Warren) Their work saves approximately 1.
5 tons of food from falling into landfill each week. Dom explained how they decided to set up the charity after seeing food poverty within their own children’s school. He said: “We noticed children that were struggling with breakfast clubs and basic meals, so that was the spark we needed to stop food from being thrown away and to feed all of the children or as many as we could.
"That was the driving force behind the idea, and we just went for and did as best we could to stop that food from hitting landfill.” In 2022, Dom’s Food Mission delivered more than 200,000 meals to those in need, preventing more than 35,000 tonnes of food going to landfill. The charity has worked on numerous projects, including their ‘boot hunger out’ campaign, which even gained support from famous faces such as Rod Stewart and Wrexham’s Elliot Lee.
Their 'helping hands' campaign aims to teach children how to cook healthy meals and reduce food waste (Image: Dominic Warren) Dom credits the charity's success on the support of his wife and volunteers. He said: “People behind the scenes such as the team and Alex, they’re the driving force with me. I would have never have called it Dom’s Food Mission if I knew it would go the way it went.
It went really big, really fast. It was just a personal project between us.” The couple received a letter earlier this year from the cabinet office informing them of their MBE.
Dom said: “It’s very surreal. I don’t think its hit home yet. We then have to wait around six weeks for an invite to Buckingham Palace to receive the award.
"Then, I think it will sink in a little bit. Seeing our names on a royal list on New Year’s Day will be pretty cool.” Recipients of an MBE are typically nominated by members of the public and awarded for outstanding achievements or long-term service to the community.
Dom said: “When the Cabinet Office rang, they said it was rare that one in a household would get it for something they’ve set up, but two people in the same household and husband and wife, I’m not sure she’s had that call in a while!” Dom and Alex (Image: Dominic Warren) He expressed their gratitude for the support they’ve had since opening and how he hopes their work will inspire others. “We never did it for any award or set out to think about anything like this. "We live in such a small town that’s hit by poverty a lot; you never think that you would be recognised like that.
It doesn’t really seem real. "Hopefully this will spark other people to want to do something for someone else, that they can achieve. "You don’t have to be a famous person to get where we’ve been or hopefully, we’re going.
It’s a nice thing to empower others.”.
