About us

FareShare South West forms part of the UK’s largest food charity, FareShare. We are one of a network of 21 similar centres located across the country. We are a community of independent franchised charities, all fighting the same issues: food waste and hunger. Over 270,000 tonnes of perfectly edible surplus food is thrown away each year. We want to see that food put to good use.

FareShare South West was formed in 2007 to help tackle the food poverty issue in the South West by redistributing surplus food across the region. By using quality, in date surplus food which would otherwise have gone to waste, we turn an environmental problem into a social solution. Here’s how we do it:

1We take quality, in date surplus food…

The vast majority of food waste occurs in the supply chain- before it even reaches the supermarket. Working with the FareShare network we save quality surplus food from food retailers at both a regional and national level- over 2,000 tonnes per year, and growing!

 

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2Receive it into our warehouses across the South West…

We receive deliveries each week at our Central Bristol, South Bristol and Plymouth warehouses which our team of over 150 volunteers sort and store. We in turn provide support to our volunteers- our way of saying a big thank you.

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3And distribute it to charity members in our community…

Our volunteers then redistribute to over 400 charities, schools and community groups across the South West- from Gloucester to Penzance. Members can sign up to weekly orders of food from our warehouse to cover their main food needs, and can complement this with extra surplus collections from their local supermarket.

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4Who transform the food into nutritious meals for those in need

In 2021 we redistributed enough food for over 4.8 million meals. The organisations we support provide vital services alongside food services. They range from homeless shelters to women’s support charities, and from disability charities to school breakfast clubs, across just about every sector.

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The food waste hierarchy calls for food to feed people first

Food companies are legally obliged to use food to feed people before sending to anaerobic digestion or for animal feed. We help them do that.

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