FareShare East Anglia officially launched in Ipswich with the aim of supplying hundreds of local charities throughout Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex with good food that would otherwise go to waste.
Across the UK, FareShare takes surplus food from shops, supermarkets and manufacturers and distributes it to charities and community groups, who then turn the food into nutritious meals for vulnerable people in need.
FareShare East Anglia expects to deliver the equivalent of more than 150,000 meals in 2018 from its new Regional Centre in Ipswich, which was was made possible through a £500,000 donation by the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation as part of its ‘Fill Your Tank’ programme to mark its 60th anniversary. Enterprise made the donation, the first of six annual grants, to The Global FoodBanking Network, which then provided the funds to FareShare to develop its activities across the UK.
Enterprise is committed to strengthening the communities in which we operate, and the Fill Your Tank programme allows us to make a significant impact in those communities. Currently 8.4 million people are struggling to afford a meal in the UK alone, which means that food insecurity is not just a global issue, but a very local one.
Khaled Shahbo, Enterprise Rent-A-Car’s Managing Director for UK and Ireland said: “It’s truly rewarding to work with FareShare to help charities across the UK whose work is invaluable in helping vulnerable people. We are a very local business with more than 450 branches, including two branches in Ipswich. This is why Enterprise is so committed to supporting local communities.”
Michael Barrett, Development Manager for FareShare East Anglia, said: “This is such a great day for FareShare East Anglia, as we bring together our food suppliers, local charities and community groups, funders, councillors and volunteers to celebrate reaching more hungry people with surplus food. I am so proud to be a part of such a fantastic operation and can’t thank Enterprise Rent-A-Car and The Global FoodBanking Network enough for making it possible and for being here today to mark the official launch.”
In addition to our grant, General Manager for the East of England Janene Scurfield and a team of Enterprise Rent-A-Car employees participated in a Volunteer Day at FareShare East Anglia, where they helped to sort, pack and distribute food to charities in need.
And following the East Anglia launch, 30 employees from our London and South East of England branches volunteered at FareShare Regional Centres in London, Kent and Sussex. They showed up with much enthusiasm and between them sorted more than 10 tonnes of food – enough for more than 20,000 meals.
