Features / Bristol Charity Advent Calendar 2024
Bristol Charity Advent Calendar 2024, day 1: FareShare South West
At their heart, FareShare South West are about bridging the gap between food waste and hunger, to create a sustainable output for all generations.
They offer what they call a “solution to the broken food system” by rescuing food that goes to waste and sending it to over 400 charities in the south west region from their Bristol and Plymouth warehouses.
Supported by a forthcoming network of employees and volunteers the charity delivered almost four million meals from 2022 to 2023, a number which is likely to have risen in 2024.
is needed now More than ever
A spokesperson from Dartmoor Community Kitchen Hub, one of the community kitchens that receive food from FareShare, said that the food “brings dignity and self-esteem to our clients”.
“There is no way we could run without FareShare South West – we’ve grown our model around the organisation.
“It is invaluable and vital.”
In July, the charity launched an employability programme called FareChance for people between ages 18 and 25
FareShare went through a major change in 2024, with the CEO’s baton being passed on from Gene Joyner to Lucy Bearn.
Ahead of taking on the leadership, Bearn had said: “I found FareShare South West accidentally, back in 2018.
“You find a lot of charities that have one aim, and I loved that there were so many different strings to what FareShare South West did.
“It was something so simple but amazing: that you could see two massive issues – food insecurity, and then food going to waste that was perfectly edible – and alleviate one with the other.
“I fell in love when I arrived in that busy warehouse and you could see it, hold it. No matter what happens in your day, you’re so attached and you’re so alive to what you’re achieving.”
All photos: FareShare
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