Time & Plaice feeds up to 120 homeless and vulnerable each month

Doncaster mobile fish and chip business Time & Plaice is feeding up to 120 homeless and vulnerable people each month, with support from suppliers including Nortech Foods and T. Quality.

Owners Lee and Grace Robinson have been carrying out the initiative for around five years, serving hot fish and chips in Christchurch, Doncaster, once a month.

“We start serving around 6pm on a Sunday, and we usually finish for about 7.30pm,” says Lee. “We can feed roughly between 80 and 120 every time.”

Lee says the initiative began after he bought his first mobile fish and chip van about five years ago. He comments: “The community comes to us and supports us, so we thought we’d go out there and help the community. I’m not a rich man, but I’m in the position now where I can do it, so I like to give back.”

The business estimates it has now provided around 6,000 meals from the van to locals in need. Lee adds: “It’s not just the homeless, it’s the vulnerable and anyone who might be having a hard time. We don’t judge, we don’t ask any questions, we just feed them, and that’s it.”

The meals are kept simple due to the limitations of operating from a mobile van, with fish and chips, sausage and chips, or fish cake and chips among the options.

“Some of the people we serve don’t have a hot meal for weeks,” says Lee. “So for them to get something hot, it’s great. I know quite a lot of them by first name terms now.”

The meals are supported by donations from suppliers across the fish and chip trade, including Nortech Foods, which provides Superior beef dripping, and T. Quality, which supplies cans of drinks. Lee adds: “We did a corporate event for Nortech recently and I got talking to Leanne, their sales manager. I was telling her about all the events we do, and she is a big supporter of caring for the homeless and asked if Nortech could support us. I said, ‘Yeah, that’s fantastic.’ So, on those nights we always use Nortech’s Superior Beef Dripping. It’s the only way to do it.”

Lee, who has been in the fish and chip trade for 21 years, now operates two mobile vans, Time & Plaice and Your Place or Mine, run by wife Grace. The vans cover regular weekday rounds as well as corporate events, village fetes and other functions. They also provide free food for local school events, including school campouts.

Both vans have won multiple awards, with Time & Plaice coming in the top three for Mobile Operator in the National Fish & Chip Awards 2025 and the top three for Community Engagement Award in 2026. Your Plaice or Mine was named in Fry Magazine’s 50 Best Fish & Chip Takeaways in 2026 as well as highly recommended in the mobile category at this year’s English Fish and Chip Awards.