FareShare seeks Norwich projects to use surplus food  

A charity that takes surplus food from the food industry and redistributes it for use by local charities and groups is setting up a new Regional Centre in East Anglia and is seeking community groups in and around Norwich to sign up to receive surplus food.

FareShare, the UK’s largest food redistribution charity, is opening a new branch of the charity in East Anglia and is seeking interested organisations in Norwich to sign up to receive surplus food.
 
The new Regional Centre, FareShare East Anglia, will save good food from going to waste by redistributing it to charities and community groups in the local area.
 
Opening this summer and based in Ipswich, FareShare East Anglia will receive in-date surplus food from food companies including retailers and manufacturers, and redistribute it to local charities and community group, such as homeless hostels, breakfast clubs, lunch clubs for older people and domestic violence refuges. 

FareShare East Anglia will be FareShare’s twenty first UK Regional Centre. This year alone the charity redistributed good quality surplus food to 6,723 charities, providing enough food for 28.6 million meals for vulnerable people.

FareShare Chief Executive Lindsay Boswell said: “We’re tremendously excited about the launch of FareShare East Anglia, but to make it a success, we need to get out there and spread the word. If you know of a charity or a community group who is doing great work in the community and could benefit from healthy nutritious surplus food, please do tell them to contact us. 

“We’re also looking for a brand new team of volunteers to help us. Volunteers are the lifeblood of FareShare -- sorting, picking, packing and delivering food to the charities who need it. If you hate food waste, want to support your community and can spare a few hours a week, please get in touch. Volunteers can be retirees, students, or those seeking work. As well as making friends and learning valuable new skills you’ll be helping to tackle food poverty, so join us and become one of our East Anglia Food Heroes!”

The donation which has funded FareShare’s new Regional Centre is part of a wider initiative by the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation called ‘Fill Your Tank’, designed to celebrate the company’s 60th anniversary. In Europe, the initiative is being carried out in collaboration with The Global FoodBanking Network, a non-profit that accelerates the development and growth of food banks in more than 30 countries around the world.

Through its worldwide partnership with the Global Foodbank Network, Enterprise Rent-A-Car is investing a total of £3 million to address hunger in the UK through FareShare over the next six years. This grant will help to increase FareShare’s capacity to redistribute surplus food to people in need across the country, some of which will be invested in developing existing Regional Centres along with funding the launch of the new service in Ipswich.

Khaled Shahbo, Managing Director UK & Ireland Enterprise Rent-A-Car, said: “Sadly, hunger and food insecurity affect people all over the UK, which is why we are very proud that Enterprise can play a part in enabling FareShare to set up this remarkable new food distribution centre in Ipswich. This is a wonderful new facility, and as well as providing the funding, we are encouraging our employees to also help out as volunteers in the coming months. 

“To some, a rental car company funding a food distribution programme to commemorate its 60th birthday may seem unusual. We have more than 460 branches around the country – including in and around Norwich and Ipswich – as well as over 1,300 car club locations so are part of many communities that are directly affected by this issue. The opportunity to support this new Regional Centre with FareShare is a wonderful gift to this community, and we are certain that it will make a tremendous impact.”

If you are a charity or community group who’d like to receive food please register your interest at www.fareshare.org.uk/fareshare-east-anglia. If you’d like to join our team of volunteers please contact the FareShare East Anglia team on fseastanglia@fareshare.org.uk.