Final gift from Stephen Hawking helps the hungry in Cambridge at Easter

A charity helping the hungry in Cambridge was able to put on an extra-special Easter lunch - thanks to Stephen Hawking.

The world-renowned scientist's funeral took place in the city on Saturday following his death earlier this month.

On the same day, a donation from his family helped to fund FoodCycle's Easter lunch at Wesley Methodist Church.

A note on tables told the 50 guests the meal was "a gift from Stephen". Organisers said the physicist was given "a little cheer" before diners tucked in.

Regional manager Alex Collis said the donation would in fact provide several meals for hundreds of guests.

FoodCycle Cambridge collects surplus food from businesses and organisations around the city including Sainsbury's, the City Food Bank and Lensfield Road Farmers' Market, to put on a meal every Saturday.

In 2017, the Cambridge project served 6,300 meals, making use of 9,166kg of unwanted food.

It is staffed with volunteers willing to give up their time to cook, serve and collect food.

Anyone who will benefit from a nice hot meal and a chat is welcome to go along and guests including older people, the homeless, refugees, people with mental health issues, and the long-term unemployed.

To find out more about volunteering with FoodCycle, which also has a project in Norwich, go to www.foodcycle.org.uk.