An Edinburgh food charity has conducted a warehouse refit during its 20th anniversary year, which will enable the charity to help feed an additional 2,000 vulnerable people each week.
FareShare Central & South East Scotland, which is run by partner charity Cyrenians, has also purchased a new, larger industrial chiller – all of which has been funded by Asda.
The Jane Street-based Regional Centre is one of the regional branches of FareShare UK, and one of four FareShare warehouses in Scotland. The Edinburgh depot provides quality surplus food to 136 frontline community groups and projects – including homeless hostels, school breakfast clubs, rehabilitation centres and elderly lunch clubs.
The new refit and chiller has afforded FareShare Central & South East Scotland the capacity to recruit 20 new local charities. This will in turn reach an estimated 2,000 more vulnerable people each week, increasing the number of beneficiaries by almost 14 percent in just one year.
According to official statistics, one in five families in Edinburgh are living in poverty. The need for FareShare’s service has never been higher and the warehouse refit was therefore vital in order to serve the needs of those most vulnerable in the community.
The move has been made possible thanks to investment from Asda as part of its Fight Hunger Create Change programme – a partnership between Asda, FareShare and The Trussell Trust which aims to help one million people in the UK with the food and support they need to help them out of the situation they’re in.
Over the course of three years, Asda is investing over £20 million to enable both charities to invest in infrastructure enabling them to offer more fresh food and tackle the root causes of poverty by providing crucial support and advice to people in need.
Lynne Collie, Manager at FareShare Central & South East Scotland, said: “FareShare Central & South East Scotland currently saves almost eight tonnes of food from waste each week, which in turn helps to provide over 18,500 meals to people in need – an astonishing figure which shows our commitment to fighting hunger and food waste.
“Each week we help to feed thousands at risk of hunger in our communities, but we know demand for our support is rising – which is why we welcome Asda’s generous investment.
“We’re grateful we are in a position to help more people, and if you would like to get involved either by volunteering, or donating food if you are a food business, we encourage you to get in touch.”
Tim Scott, Senior Manager, Community and Campaigns at Asda, said: “By bringing FareShare and the Trussell Trust together and investing in their infrastructure and essential services, we can help thousands more vulnerable people in Edinburgh and across central and south east Scotland to access good quality fresh food.
“Ultimately, our aim is to change the face of poverty in the UK by providing much needed food to those in need and tackling the root causes of poverty, ensuring nobody goes hungry.”
Neil Hay, Cyrenians Head of Social Enterprise, said: “At Cyrenians we believe that everyone deserves to have access to life’s basic necessities. At present one in eight people aren’t able to access good quality food on a regular basis, despite a surplus of available goods.
“This additional support from ASDA is vital to helping us reach even more people experiencing food insecurity, but also in our fight against unnecessary food waste which benefits everyone.”
For further information or to find out how your charity or community group can receive surplus food from FareShare, visit www.fareshare.org.uk.
Pictured top: (L- R) FareShare network development manager Rachel Carr, Asda community champion Cameron Marshall, Cyrenians service manager Lynne Collie and Cyrenians head of enterprise Neil Hay.
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