FareShare North East awarded £20,000 from The National Lottery Community Fund

FareShare North East has been awarded £20,000 over two years through The National Lottery Community Fund’s Awards for All programme, helping us strengthen and grow our volunteer programme.

The funding will support our Volunteer Engagement Officer to expand, diversify and enhance volunteering opportunities at our Newcastle warehouse, with a particular focus on people facing barriers to employment, including unemployed young people and people from underrepresented communities.

Our volunteers are at the heart of everything we do. Around 110 volunteers currently support our Newcastle warehouse, helping rescue good-to-eat surplus food and ensuring it reaches charities and community organisations across the North East. Quite simply, we could not operate without their dedication, commitment and hard work.

Our CEO, Jake Hanmore, said, “This funding is an investment in people. Every day, our volunteers make an incredible contribution to helping us tackle food waste and support local communities. Thanks to The National Lottery Community Fund, we’ll be able to strengthen our volunteer programme and ensure that more people, can access meaningful opportunities to develop skills, gain experience and realise their potential.”

Creating opportunities through volunteering

Through Awards for All, The National Lottery Community Fund invests in projects that bring people together, strengthen relationships and help communities thrive.

This funding will enable us to create more inclusive volunteering opportunities and provide tailored support that helps people build confidence, develop transferable skills and gain valuable workplace experience. By investing in volunteer development, we can ensure that people from a wide range of backgrounds feel welcomed, supported and able to thrive within our organisation.

For many volunteers, their time with FareShare North East is about more than giving back to their community. It is an opportunity to improve wellbeing, meet new people and take positive steps towards employment, training or further education. The experience, skills and confidence gained through volunteering can be life-changing for people looking to take their next step.

Our Volunteer Engagement Officer, Fran Elliott, said, “We have around 110 volunteers based at our Newcastle warehouse. They bring so much energy, commitment and enthusiasm to FareShare North East. This funding means we can invest more time in supporting them, developing new opportunities and making volunteering accessible to a wider range of people.”

We are incredibly grateful to The National Lottery Community Fund and National Lottery players for making this possible.