FareShare, the UK’s biggest charity fighting hunger and tackling food waste is today Thursday 5th May officially opening a new warehouse in Plymouth, Devon. The new site is expected to redistribute more than one million meals to people across the South West each year. FareShare, which take good-to-eat surplus food, unsold or unwanted by the food industry, and redistributes it through a network of more than 10,500 charities and community groups, already operates 30 regional centres across the UK.
The new warehouse, based in the heart of Plymouth, has been operating since November 2021 and already supplies food to more than 40 local charities across Devon and Cornwall. It is expected to work with many more frontline organisations in the years to come. A recent study for Devon County Council showed that 1 in 10 households across the county experience very low food security, with household members going hungry, due to a lack of money and resources. Cornwall County Council has also recently set up a Food Insecurity Group to tackle the issue, following the Covid-19 pandemic.
FareShare South West, which will operate the warehouse, hopes the new premises will not only help stop people going hungry at this tough time, but also enable communities to be more resilient long term. A recent survey by FareShare of the thousands of charities and community groups it supports across the UK, showed that 90% have been affected by the cost of living crisis.
Lindsay Boswell, CEO, FareShare UK said: “We’re very proud to be supporting local communities by working alongside frontline organisations in Devon and Cornwall. The new Plymouth warehouse will allow us to create vital relationships with new suppliers and get good-to-eat surplus from the food industry onto people’s plates, tackling food insecurity and the unnecessary wasting of good food.”
The new expansion will allow FareShare to unlock previously untapped surplus food and represents a commitment to the Devon and Cornwall regions, working with frontline organisations to deliver positive impact and support vital services. Over the past months strong local partnerships with food organisations and frontline charities have been created and the FareShare South West team are looking forward to more of these.
Shelley Wright, Head of Region for Devon and Cornwall, FareShare South West said: “We are excited to open this Plymouth warehouse and use it to support and bolster existing food charities across the region. Over the past four years, this has been a real community effort, collaborating with local charities and food companies to unlock a new supply of affordable food. To reach the most people possible, we need to have all parts of the operations running. So, we are looking for volunteers who would like to help in the warehouse and drive vans, as well as local food companies who would like to partner with us to reduce waste while helping the local community.”
To find out more learn more about how to get involved, visit https://faresharesouthwest.org.uk/
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