In October 2021, a group of over 50 MPs have written to the Prime Minister, calling on the Government to take urgent action to reduce food waste.

“In 2019, the Government demonstrated a bold commitment to tackling food waste, with a successful trial that diverted millions of meals’ worth of great quality surplus food from British farms to frontline charities providing care and support to vulnerable families.”

Lindsay Boswell, FareShare CEO, mentioned that in the run up to COP (1st-13th November 2021), FareShare UK are urging the Government to show leadership on this issue and commit to extending vital funding to get good-to-out, surplus food onto people’s plates.

Two million tonnes of fresh, unsold food is wasted in the UK every year. Funding to help farmers and food producers get this food to frontline charities has now ended. If the funding were to be extended, it could create an additional 53 million meals for vulnerable families. Without it, the food will be wasted – thrown into biogas digesters, sent to landfill or simply ploughed back into the fields.

This letter is part for of the #FoodOnPlates campaign launched by FareShare UK. The letter, signed by 53 MPs representing both sides of the house, calls for funding towards offsetting the costs of redistributing food from farmers and businesses to charities. This will help the UK mitigate 12,378 tonnes of carbon. You can find the full list of signatories here, and the letter to Boris Johnson here.

Unfortunately, the government did not allocate funding for a food waste scheme. However, FareShare UK will continue to urge the government to work with them and with the food industry, to ensure farmers and food producers are no longer penalised for doing the right thing with their surplus food. Together, we can help save food from going to waste and get it straight onto people’s plates.

Read UNEP’s Food Waste Index Report 2021.

On the 1st August 2021, six amazing people set off from Land’s End for the 13-day challenge to cycle the length of Britain. Find out more why Steve Barlow, Mike Dibb-Fuller, David Grainger, John Hanley from Wylam as well as John and Ollie from London, dedicated their time, effort, energy and money into raising money for FareShare North East.

Raising Money For A Good Cause

Both David and Mike volunteer for FareShare North East, working in the warehouse and on the delivery vans. They dedicated their time during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure food gets to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged people in the North East. David and Mike saw first-hand the need that is around them, and how the vital work of FareShare North East continues to be. David and Mike wanted to promote the work of FareShare North East and help raise money so we can continue in our mission to fight hunger and tackle food waste in the region.

Taking On A Challenge

At 8:45 on the 1st August, from a cloudy Penzance, Steve, Mike, David, John, John and Ollie set off on their ultimate cycling journey starting at Land’s End with the aim to travel 1,000 miles in 13 days until they get to John O’Groats (LEJOG). This is an average of 77 miles each day, climbing approximately 64,455ft…equivalent to over two times the size of Mount Everest! They didn’t take the ‘easy’ route either – climbing 6 of the ‘Greatest Climbs in the UK’ including up to Dartmoor, Cheddar Gorge, Fleet Moss, Hartside, The Spittal of Glenshee and the iconic the Lecht (10/10 for difficulty in the climbing guide).

They rode through the beauty of Cornwall and Devon, Golden Valleys of Wales, the rolling hills of Shropshire, through the Midlands, and up to the rugged hills of the Borders, to the magnificent Scotland. They crossed the Severn Bridge, the Clifton Bridge and the Forth Bridge on their ride. What an amazing journey!

Reflecting On Hunger And Food Waste

Following their blog LEJOG – Cycling To Fight Hunger And Tackle Food Waste it seemed they had an amazing time on their journey. All six members bonded with one another and had a lot of time to think whilst on the saddle! After hearing from Lara about how much they had raised on their 13th day, they said:

“We’ve had a great time on the trip but the fundraising side of things has really kept us going. It’s really staggering that there is such food hunger in our country in 2021. As we’ve travelled through from Cornwall to Caithness, all the major towns and cities and many of the smaller places, had active food banks…I wonder what would it take for there not be a need for food banks? We all hope we can get to that situation, but in the meantime, the need is self-evident and hopefully our efforts on LEJOG have raised both awareness and funds to contribute to the national effort to deal with food hunger and food waste.”

 

To date they have raised over £7500 for FareShare North East, which will go straight towards helping to pay for a new refrigerated van. This will help us ensure that food can be delivered safely across the region to over 200 community groups and charities who support vulnerable people in some way.

We want to say a massive thank you to Steve, Mike, David, John, John and Ollie for their fundraising efforts by taking on such a challenge to raise money for FareShare North East.

Even though their challenge has finished, you can still support their fundraising efforts here. Be sure to check out their blog too for a fantastic day-by-day run through of what they experienced!

The annual Tesco Food Collection takes place from Thursday 18th to Saturday 20th November and will provide extra food support for people in urgent need this Christmas.

FareShare North East are looking for volunteers to help collect food donations from shoppers at their local participating Tesco stores. The food will go straight to the charities and community groups who are supporting those facing a difficult winter. Tesco are also topping up the donations made during the collection with a 20% cash donation to help the organisations in their work.

The presence of volunteers at the collection has a big impact on the amount of food donated and Lindsay Boswell encouraged people to get involved, warning charities could be under extra pressure this winter. 

“With many people still feeling the effects of the pandemic, and, with the huge increase in heating bills and living costs coming in the lead up to the cold winter months, we know that there will be many people turning to their local grassroots organisations for support with food this Christmas”, says Lindsay.

Christmas can be a difficult time for vulnerable people and we know that these people will sometimes be forced to reach out for food support. By signing up for shifts at your local Tesco store, you can help make a difference during this busy period. You can donate a few hours of your time and volunteer during the collection or, alternatively, you could donate food to your local Tesco’s donation point.

FareShare UK said “The Tesco Food Collection is the biggest collection of its kind in the UK, and a vital source of food for the two charities. To date Tesco customers have donated more than 40 million meals during the in-store collections to support their work”.

You can help FareShare North East by volunteering three hours of your time between 18th-20th November to ask customers to donate at your local participating Tesco store. Food will reach those who need it most via FareShare and the Trussell Trust. You can volunteer with your friends, family and work colleagues too!

Sign up as a volunteer here. 

Leigh, our admin volunteer, has been volunteering with FareShare North East since April 2020. Like many other people, Leigh is mindful about the preposterous state of affairs between overconsumption and food waste on the one hand, and the fact that there are many people out in the community in need of food for both themselves and their families.

“I have always felt strongly about food poverty which was why I didn’t hesitate to volunteer with FareShare North East. I now also volunteer at another food charity, helping to cook and distribute meals to people in the community. It is great to see what happens to the surplus food that FareShare North East redistributes”.

Leigh began by volunteering in the warehouse but realised that something a little less physical was needed, hence the move to being part of the office team. It’s a family duet since Leigh’s daughter, Anna, is also a volunteer at FareShare North East. Working together as a family unit is very special to Leigh. Leigh also comments that all the staff and volunteers are very friendly and there is a great vibrant energy in the warehouse. The benefits of volunteering at FareShare North East are infinite; as well as reflecting on food waste and food poverty generally, it has also made Leigh think about her own food consumption and waste.

“I’ve met some interesting and great people, tasted some delicious food and recently been inspired to cook some new things with celeriac and beetroot!”

While volunteering has been a welcome and useful distraction during the past year, Leigh is heartened and uplifted to know that she is part of an organisation that is making a difference to our society.

Our volunteers are at the heart of everything we do. It is our amazing volunteers like Leigh that help us get food to those who need it most in the region. Find out more about volunteering. 

Hello everyone, and welcome to our brand new website for FareShare North East!

We want to thank everyone for bearing with us over these past few years. We are so pleased with our brand new site designed and developed by the wonderful North East-based company Urban River. Furthermore, a special shout out to Peter Glaves, who has supported us all the way through this process by taking some incredible photos and videos to go on our website. Thank you to all of our staff and volunteers also for taking part in spur of the moment photoshoots in the warehouse!

This new website will be critical in helping us communicate who FareShare North East are and what we do in our community. We hope that we are able to reach more people in the region – whether that is helping to sign-up new community organisations supporting vulnerable people, welcoming more volunteers or raising funds to support our vital operations.

We hope you find the new website easy to navigate and get you get all the information you require. If you have any feedback or comments please Contact Us. Have fun browsing!

From Elle on behalf of the FareShare North East Team

Meet John, who joined FareShare North East as a volunteer in February 2019 and is one of our longest, continuously serving volunteers!

John is now 72 years old. He says “I studied at Norwich Catering College, then worked at Mecca in Norwich. I transferred to Newcastle in 1970 to become the Catering Manager at the Mayfair, a famous nightclub.” John worked there for thirty years until its closure in 1999. “I must admit, after leaving the Mayfair I went wild for a few years, doing things such as skiing, motorbiking, climbing and ice camping!”

John played rugby for 25 years. He toured Canada, as an amateur, with Gosforth, now known as the Newcastle Falcons. “I bought a small holding in Allendale and kept horses, sheep, dogs and cats. I was a house husband and raised my children, Phoebe, now aged 14, and Fraser, now 11.” Over two years ago, John visited a friend who worked in a furniture charity that shared the warehouse with FareShare North East. Two weeks later, he was driving vans for FSNE.

“I love going out in the vans for FareShare North East with my regular partners Xana and Alan, who I get on great with.”

John has volunteered at Crisis at Christmas as a cook, as a Guide for The Great North Exhibition and as a facilitator for The Tall Ships when they visited Sunderland. Alongside FareShare North East, John collects prescriptions, shops, and generally helps community members through the Royal Voluntary service.

“From Prince Charles to pop stars, I have met loads of famous people, but most of all, I have enjoyed meeting a lot of different people through my volunteering. It gives me a purpose in life and keeps me young. I highly recommend volunteering to anyone!”

We love to see new, friendly faces! If you would like to join our team of amazing volunteers, click here and fill out an application form. Want to find out more about what our volunteers say about volunteering with FareShare North East?