FareShare facts for kids
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| Formation | 1994 |
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| Type | Charity |
| Focus | Food waste in the United Kingdom, food poverty and volunteering |
| Headquarters | 19th Floor Millbank Tower, 21-24 Millbank, London SW1P 4QP |
| Location | |
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Members
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Over 9,000 |
| George Wright | |
| Website | fareshare.org.uk |
FareShare is a charity that started in 1994. Its main goal is to help people who don't have enough food. It also works to stop good food from being wasted in the United Kingdom.
They collect extra food from food companies. This is food that would otherwise be thrown away. Then, they send this food to other charities and community groups all over the UK. FareShare works with all parts of the food industry. This includes producers, manufacturers, and shops. Many big UK food shops encourage their suppliers to work with FareShare. This helps to reduce food waste even more.
Contents
In December 1994, a charity called Crisis teamed up with Sainsbury's. They created Crisis FareShare in London. Their aim was to share extra food from businesses. This food went to hostels and shelters for homeless people in the city.
Marks & Spencer and Pret a Manger were some of their first food suppliers. By 1999, the charity was working in seven cities. These included Birmingham, Manchester, and Huddersfield.
Becoming an Independent Charity
In 2004, FareShare became its own independent charity. This allowed them to grow even more. They could then help more people, not just those who were homeless. Today, the FareShare network has over twenty centres across the UK. Most of these centres are run by local groups.
In 2015, FareShare launched its FareShare Go app. This app connects local charities with supermarkets. These supermarkets have extra food available. Shops like Tesco, Waitrose, and Asda use the app. In 2022, Booker became the first big food wholesaler to join the scheme.
Helping More People
In February 2018, Asda promised to invest £20 million in FareShare. They also invested in The Trussell Trust. Their goal was to help over one million people avoid food poverty. This plan included paying for new fridges and delivery vans.
Working During Covid-19
During the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020, FareShare stayed open. They kept getting food to people who needed it. In the first month of lockdown, the amount of food they received doubled. This happened because many restaurants and hotels closed. Supermarket partners like the Co-op also gave more food and money. This helped FareShare meet the higher demand. In December 2020, the government gave them a £16 million grant. This helped them continue their work through the winter.
According to their report, FareShare shared over 53,894 tonnes of food in 2021/2022. This is like 128.3 million meals! This food goes to many different groups. These include foodbanks, homeless shelters, women's refuge centres, and children's breakfast clubs.
Important Campaigns
FareShare helps provide food for children's holiday clubs. This is part of their #ActiveAte campaign. This campaign highlights "Holiday Hunger." This is when children who get free school lunches don't have enough food during school holidays. There are 13 weeks of school holidays each year.
Working with Marcus Rashford
In 2020, FareShare partnered with England and Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford. He now works with the charity to raise awareness about Holiday Hunger. He also campaigns for food donations from companies. Rashford also leads the Child Food Poverty Taskforce. FareShare is a founding member of this group. The taskforce wants to make sure children get the food support they need.
Awards and Recognition
FareShare has won many awards for its important work.
- In 2010, they won "Britain's Most Admired Charity" at the Third Sector awards.
- In 2017, they won "Charity of the Year" at the Charity Times awards and Third Sector Awards. They were also chosen for The Telegraph's Christmas Charity Appeal.
- In 2019, the charity won the Food and Drink Federation's Campaign of the Year award. This was for their "Feed People First" campaign. This campaign helped get £15 million from DEFRA. This money helped make it easier for food companies to give food to people in need. It meant they didn't have to pay as much to send food to landfill.
- They also won the Charity Times 2019 award for "Corporate National Partnership with a Retailer."
- They won the Business Charity Awards 2019 "Consortium" award. This was with the Trussell Trust and Asda for their "Fight Hunger Create Change" project.
See also
- Food waste in the United Kingdom
- Hunger in the United Kingdom
- Poverty in the United Kingdom
