Posted: Tuesday - August 9, 2022 2:41 pm     

FareShare Midlands celebrated the 1-year anniversary of the launch of its Lincoln depot, which was the first of its kind in Lincolnshire. Over the past 12 months, the depot has grown from supplying five Community Food Members to 42. The Depot now delivers to Members based as far away as Newark, Gainsborough, Wisbech, Skegness and Sutton-on-Sea.

 
The Community Food Members are all local charitable and community organisations offering access to food and delivering delicious meals to the elderly, community cafes and pantries, before and after school clubs, homeless hostels and food banks. FareShare Midlands has far exceeded its initial aim to redistribute 10 tonnes of food per month, equivalent to 24,000 meals. The depot has so far provided these groups with over 222 tonnes of food, equivalent to 528,000 nutritious meals to share with vulnerable families and individuals. 
 
Lincolnshire Co-op and the Lincolnshire Community Foundation provided essential initial funding to launch the depot and to pilot innovative solutions to driving down waste. Part of the pilot saw the Lincolnshire Co-op supplying the depot with unsold food from 21 of its stores.  However, by the end of the pilot, it was evident that the volume of store level surplus from those 21 stores was too small to justify the environmental impact of transporting the products. Since then, the society has continued to offer support in numerous ways, including professional advice, sourcing equipment like racking and providing training to volunteers.  
 
FareShare Midlands has seen growing support for the depot from other local food partners including Gousto, The British Hamper Company and Princes Canned Foods.
 
A modest FareShare Midlands team, together with a group of 14 dedicated volunteers, staffs the depot. In addition, local businesses are increasingly becoming involved and visiting the depot on corporate volunteer days. This is an excellent way to give back to the community by sorting and packing the surplus food for redistribution. Volunteers have donated 6,000 hours of work during the course of the year.
 
FareShare Midlands CEO, Simone Connolly said,
“We are so proud of our hardworking Lincoln team and amazed by the amount of surplus food we have helped redistribute to local charities and community groups so far. We cannot thank our partners enough. Without their support, opening this new site would not have been possible. The depot started as a 6-month pilot - however now we can see the range of community groups fighting hunger and poverty, and just how many families and individuals need food and support. The rise in the price of food, fuel and energy has only made the situation worse, but with our Lincoln Depot we will continue to unlock even more surplus food, so that we can be ready to step up as the Cost of Living Crisis continues to bite”.
 
Lincolnshire Co-op’s Food Operations Project Manager Gavin Willson said
“The number of meals the Hub has distributed is an astounding figure, both in terms of reducing food surplus and showing the level of need out there. We’re proud to have worked with the FareShare team to get this project off the ground and then to help make it a success”.
 
Sue Fortune, CEO, Lincolnshire Community Foundation said
“The Foundation is delighted to have been able to support this important initiative, which offers crucial support to those individuals and families struggling to access good quality food and, given the current financial climate, the resource is needed more than ever”.
 
Ticky Nadal, the Greater Lincolnshire Food Partnership said
“We're so pleased that Fareshare have not only risen to the challenge of delivering locally sourced surplus to the county's food poverty organisations, they have also shown outstanding support for collaboration across different sectors of the food chain. Lincolnshire Co-op were fully supportive in all sorts of ways right from the start. GLFP looks forward to continuing work with Fareshare to reduce food waste and food poverty across Greater Lincolnshire.  We'll be working hard together on action to empower the county's residents currently suffering food poverty.
 
CJ Drinkall, General Manager, Mint Lane Café said
“Working closely with Fareshare Midlands has enabled Mint Lane to continue to support those at the front line of the food crisis, by passing on produce and creating meals via our community cafe. We will continue to develop initiatives to reach those in isolation or with limited accessibility, with food packages, fresh produce boxes and ready meals, support with free children’s meals and further food skills and education packages via Lincolnshire’s social prescribers. Thank you Fareshare Midlands for allowing us to be part of your pilot and for the continued close partnership to ensure Lincolnshire’s critical needs continue to be met”.
 
Due to the current increases in food, fuel and energy costs FareShare Midlands urgently needs support. The organisation needs local people with spare time and a passion for food and/or the environment. To explore our rich and rewarding volunteer opportunities, please visit this page: https://faresharemidlands.org.uk/volunteer-with-us/. At the same time, the requirements for food are increasing across the region. If you have surplus food, including hard-to-place or short-shelf life surplus, we can help you divert this while fighting food waste and hunger: https://faresharemidlands.org.uk/food-donation/

PHOTO: Gavin Capes (Gousto), Sue Fortune (Lincolnshire Community Foundation), Simone Connolly (FareShare Midlands), Kerry Werling (Lincoln Community Grocery), Laura Stratford (Lincolnshire Food Partnership), Shay Dempsey (FareShare Midlands), Nicola Berry (Lincolnshire Co-op).
Photo taken by Stuart Wilde Photography Ltd - https://www.stuartwildephotography.com/
 
You can find out more here in respect of:
To discuss this press release please contact:
Simone Connolly or Laura Spencer
FareShare Midlands
E: communications@faresharemidlands.co.uk
Staff Vacancies | FareShare Midlands - Fighting hunger, tackling food waste in the UK
Posted: Tuesday - August 9, 2022 2:41 pm     

FareShare Midlands celebrated the 1-year anniversary of the launch of its Lincoln depot, which was the first of its kind in Lincolnshire. Over the past 12 months, the depot has grown from supplying five Community Food Members to 42. The Depot now delivers to Members based as far away as Newark, Gainsborough, Wisbech, Skegness and Sutton-on-Sea.

 
The Community Food Members are all local charitable and community organisations offering access to food and delivering delicious meals to the elderly, community cafes and pantries, before and after school clubs, homeless hostels and food banks. FareShare Midlands has far exceeded its initial aim to redistribute 10 tonnes of food per month, equivalent to 24,000 meals. The depot has so far provided these groups with over 222 tonnes of food, equivalent to 528,000 nutritious meals to share with vulnerable families and individuals. 
 
Lincolnshire Co-op and the Lincolnshire Community Foundation provided essential initial funding to launch the depot and to pilot innovative solutions to driving down waste. Part of the pilot saw the Lincolnshire Co-op supplying the depot with unsold food from 21 of its stores.  However, by the end of the pilot, it was evident that the volume of store level surplus from those 21 stores was too small to justify the environmental impact of transporting the products. Since then, the society has continued to offer support in numerous ways, including professional advice, sourcing equipment like racking and providing training to volunteers.  
 
FareShare Midlands has seen growing support for the depot from other local food partners including Gousto, The British Hamper Company and Princes Canned Foods.
 
A modest FareShare Midlands team, together with a group of 14 dedicated volunteers, staffs the depot. In addition, local businesses are increasingly becoming involved and visiting the depot on corporate volunteer days. This is an excellent way to give back to the community by sorting and packing the surplus food for redistribution. Volunteers have donated 6,000 hours of work during the course of the year.
 
FareShare Midlands CEO, Simone Connolly said,
“We are so proud of our hardworking Lincoln team and amazed by the amount of surplus food we have helped redistribute to local charities and community groups so far. We cannot thank our partners enough. Without their support, opening this new site would not have been possible. The depot started as a 6-month pilot - however now we can see the range of community groups fighting hunger and poverty, and just how many families and individuals need food and support. The rise in the price of food, fuel and energy has only made the situation worse, but with our Lincoln Depot we will continue to unlock even more surplus food, so that we can be ready to step up as the Cost of Living Crisis continues to bite”.
 
Lincolnshire Co-op’s Food Operations Project Manager Gavin Willson said
“The number of meals the Hub has distributed is an astounding figure, both in terms of reducing food surplus and showing the level of need out there. We’re proud to have worked with the FareShare team to get this project off the ground and then to help make it a success”.
 
Sue Fortune, CEO, Lincolnshire Community Foundation said
“The Foundation is delighted to have been able to support this important initiative, which offers crucial support to those individuals and families struggling to access good quality food and, given the current financial climate, the resource is needed more than ever”.
 
Ticky Nadal, the Greater Lincolnshire Food Partnership said
“We're so pleased that Fareshare have not only risen to the challenge of delivering locally sourced surplus to the county's food poverty organisations, they have also shown outstanding support for collaboration across different sectors of the food chain. Lincolnshire Co-op were fully supportive in all sorts of ways right from the start. GLFP looks forward to continuing work with Fareshare to reduce food waste and food poverty across Greater Lincolnshire.  We'll be working hard together on action to empower the county's residents currently suffering food poverty.
 
CJ Drinkall, General Manager, Mint Lane Café said
“Working closely with Fareshare Midlands has enabled Mint Lane to continue to support those at the front line of the food crisis, by passing on produce and creating meals via our community cafe. We will continue to develop initiatives to reach those in isolation or with limited accessibility, with food packages, fresh produce boxes and ready meals, support with free children’s meals and further food skills and education packages via Lincolnshire’s social prescribers. Thank you Fareshare Midlands for allowing us to be part of your pilot and for the continued close partnership to ensure Lincolnshire’s critical needs continue to be met”.
 
Due to the current increases in food, fuel and energy costs FareShare Midlands urgently needs support. The organisation needs local people with spare time and a passion for food and/or the environment. To explore our rich and rewarding volunteer opportunities, please visit this page: https://faresharemidlands.org.uk/volunteer-with-us/. At the same time, the requirements for food are increasing across the region. If you have surplus food, including hard-to-place or short-shelf life surplus, we can help you divert this while fighting food waste and hunger: https://faresharemidlands.org.uk/food-donation/

PHOTO: Gavin Capes (Gousto), Sue Fortune (Lincolnshire Community Foundation), Simone Connolly (FareShare Midlands), Kerry Werling (Lincoln Community Grocery), Laura Stratford (Lincolnshire Food Partnership), Shay Dempsey (FareShare Midlands), Nicola Berry (Lincolnshire Co-op).
Photo taken by Stuart Wilde Photography Ltd - https://www.stuartwildephotography.com/
 
You can find out more here in respect of:
To discuss this press release please contact:
Simone Connolly or Laura Spencer
FareShare Midlands
E: communications@faresharemidlands.co.uk

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