FareShare Midlands (UK)
FareShare Midlands is a collaborative partner of the UK charity FareShare UK. Their aim is to relieve poverty and reduce the amount of food going to landfills, thereby reducing environmental damage. They provide a very low-cost food solution to frontline local charities and their community groups, helping them make essential savings on their food budgets by redistributing good quality, in-date surplus food from the food industry. Through its work, FareShare Midlands addresses two of the most urgent issues that face the UK today: food poverty and food waste.
FareShare research estimates that food insecurity could rise to 12.5% of the population (previously 5.6%) as the economic impacts of both Brexit and COVID-19 take hold.
In 2020/2021, the Eurofins Foundation provided crucial support to FareShare Midlands (FSM) in establishing their employability programme, which has already supported 50 people to access training and support. By the end of September 2021, more than 25 people had gained additional qualifications, with 8 securing full-time employment.
The grant has enabled FSM to invest in their facilities and offer a welcoming learning and support hub above their warehouse, where participants are able to gain work experience.
The support of the Eurofins Foundation also enabled FSM to develop new routes to reach underserved areas in the West Midlands, helping the Birmingham warehouse to distribute 4.7 million meals and reach almost 40,000 individuals in 2021.
This project contributes to the following United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals
