Right now, nearly 14 million people in the UK are struggling to get enough to eat. That’s 1 in 5 of us.
At FareShare South West, we’re addressing this crisis by working with food suppliers across the region to save good-quality, surplus food from landfill, and get it to people in need. Last year, we delivered food for more than three million meals. Together, we help growers, retailers and manufacturers of all sizes to reach their sustainability goals, motivate staff and customers and fight hunger in their community.
FareShare South West is the region’s biggest food charity. Five days a week, 52 weeks a year, our volunteer van crews deliver hundreds of tonnes of quality surplus food from our warehouses in Bristol and Plymouth, to around 400 member charities across the South West.
Members include schools in struggling areas, food banks, homelessness shelters, community centres and many others. Once there, the food is made into meals or distributed as food parcels for people that can’t afford to buy food.
Latest figures from the Food Foundation reveal that 30% children have shared food with a friend at school because they didn’t have enough to eat. Over the last two years, the number of children who experienced food insecurity over the summer holidays increased by more than 25%. Households who are food insecure are more likely to be affected by rising energy costs.
“If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have been able to feed my daughter or myself over the last few months. My bills have gone up so much that I can’t afford to pay everything in one go. Thank you.”
As rates of food poverty soar, millions of tonnes of food are still discarded each year – often even before it hits the shelves. Food becomes surplus for dozens of reasons – from a labelling error to over-production to end of line stock, and everything in between.
At FareShare South West, we take food safety seriously. We adhere to food industry safety guidelines and our warehouse is audited internally and externally to ensure compliance. Our stock control systems mean we can guarantee traceability of every food item we receive and redistribute.
We accept chilled and ambient food (with capacity for frozen coming soon) and make daily collections of food (from small quantities up to full pallets) from suppliers who aren’t able to deliver to our warehouse. Food partners include Riverford Organic, St. Ewe eggs (375,000 eggs donated and counting!), Trewithen Dairy, the Cornwall Bakery, Tideford Organics, Dartmouth Foods… the list goes on.
“A huge number of our ‘wonky’ pies are collected each week from our kitchens by FareShare South West. We’ve set ourselves some ambitious waste reduction targets and FareShare South West plays a huge part in helping us meet them, while ensuring our pies reach those that need them the most.” Tristan Hogg, Co-founder & CEO, Pieminister.
Already, our fleet of vans delivers to around 50 member charitiesin Devon and Cornwall – with more than 100 on the waiting list. The demand for emergency food has never been more acute, but we can only accept new members when we know there is food to support them for as long as they need.
“Our delivery from FareShare South West ensures we can get meals to recipients within hours. Many of our referrals tell us that the recipient has not had any food or eaten for some days, therefore, the impact of providing immediate relief is immeasurable.”
To reach more people, we need more food. Get in touch today to find out how we can rescue your surplus food. Giving food is just one way of getting involved- if your company wants to do more to join the fight against food poverty and food waste, we will support you every step of the way!
Whether you are a small business or a large corporation, find out more about how partnering with FareShare South West can help your business stand out at faresharesouthwest.org.uk/support-us/become-a-corporate-partner.
