FareShare Cymru are helping people stay fed this winter by running a food drive that tackles both waste and food poverty.
Situated just outside Cardiff is the Welsh distribution centre for the UK wide charity, FareShare. Their aim is to take good food from the commercial sector that’s destined for waste and redistribute it to charities and community groups, who transform it into nutritious meals for vulnerable people.
Carla Clutton, regional assistant for Wales at FareShare Cymru, said last year they had redistributed enough food for 1.2 million meals in South Wales alone. Currently they deliver surplus food to 55 charities across the region, including homeless hostels, refuges, food banks and school breakfast clubs. “Both food poverty and food waste are huge issues affecting us in Wales,” says Carla, “and I’m so grateful that we have the opportunity to help on both issues.”
During the winter months FareShare run the Neighbourhood Food Collection, which collects food donations from shoppers at their partner Tesco stores. This fills their warehouses for the Christmas period when charities often struggle the most, enabling them to distribute extra food for Christmas meals and higher winter demand.
STAR Communities First is a government funded programme that helps to build up local communities in Cardiff and makes use of the food donations from Tesco Culverhouse Cross to run a breakfast club.
Breakfast club coordinator from STAR Communities First, Lucy Marland, said the drive helps them provide vulnerable people with a free breakfast with tea, coffee and a warm place to sit and chat for a few hours. “Due to the amazing amount and variety of food,” explains Lucy, “which includes fresh fruit, vegetables, cakes and breads and sometimes flowers, we are able to offer the chance to those that come along to take a selection of the food with them when they leave.”