Foodbuy have committed 1000 hours of volunteering for FareShare

16 May 2024

As a leading UK procurement organisation, we are committed to using our business as a force for good, making a difference through various initiatives and partnerships to create a better world. 

That’s why we have committed 1,000 volunteering hours to FareShare, our long-standing charity partner. Having been charity partners since 2014, it is important for our wider team to get involved with the partnership and get stuck in with volunteering. Through this, our teams will learn more about the great work that FareShare do on a day-to-day basis.  

This commitment also brings valuable team building opportunities, bringing our team together whilst we make a difference! 

WHO ARE FARESHARE? 

FareShare is the UK’s longest running food redistribution charity. They are a national network of charitable food redistributors, made up of 18 independent organisations. Together, they take good quality surplus food from right across the food industry and get it to nearly 8,500 frontline charities and community groups.  

Through our partnership, we support their inspirational mission, with the food they redistribute reaching charities across the UK, including school breakfast clubs, older people’s lunch clubs, homeless shelters, and more.  

We support FareShare by donating surplus food directly to FareShare who in turn use it to help feed thousands of people in need, whilst making sure that no good food goes to waste.  

HOW WILL OUR TEAMS BE GETTING INVOLVED? 

In an average volunteering day at FareShare, a team of 6 would help to move over 8,200 meals. Our teams will be getting stuck in and supporting FareShare in multiple ways: 

• Warehouse Assistant – this will involve volunteering at the heart of FareShare’s operations in one of their regional centres, sorting surplus food and preparing deliveries. 
• Frontline Charities – spending the day with one of the community charities that receive food from FareShare, supporting in cooking surplus food, food redistribution, packing emergency food parcels, and supporting community lunches. Each hour spent volunteering at one of FareShare’s regional centres supports them in delivering around 196 meals to a charity! 

Hari Singh, Head of Sustainability at Foodbuy UK&I said: 

“Here at Foodbuy we actively encourage our suppliers to demonstrate the social value they can offer us and track this closely through the life of each supplier contract. However, I feel that social value isn’t a notion reserved solely for our supply chain - I’ve always wanted a cause that I can get Foodbuy to galvanise around, one which isn’t just about giving back; but about connecting with our shared sense of purpose and humanity, the act of giving back to the very communities that we operate within. Each hour spent with FareShare is about supporting a great cause, inspiring others and fostering a culture of compassion, empathy, and collective responsibility." 

Since partnering in 2014, we've achieved significant milestones with FareShare:  

• 1 million meals: We've redistributed the equivalent of 1 million meals to FareShare's network of 8,500 charities.  
• In 2023 alone: 29.78 tonnes of food redistributed and 1367 charities helped    
• 433.10 tonnes of CO2e saved
  

To find out more about our partnership with FareShare, visit https://www.foodbuy.co.uk/case-studies/fareshare/