2019 Shortlist | FareShare
FareShare
Shortlist – Improving Impact – charities with 26+ paid staff
Who they are
FareShare is the UK’s largest food redistribution charity. It tackles food waste and food poverty by working with the food and drink industry to divert their good-to-eat surplus food. Its 21 regional centres work in partnership with the major supermarkets and more than 500 food manufacturers, packers and processors to redistribute surplus food to front-line charities providing meals alongside their ancillary services. Food from the FareShare network saves the charity sector nearly £29 million a year, which charities are able to reinvest into their organisations to deliver other essential support services. Almost all the food collected by FareShare combines both fresh and ambient foods for a well-balanced diet. More than 772,390 people are supported each week with this food.
What they’ve achieved
FareShare’s food distribution networks have been helped by the development of the new Gather, Log and Distribute Your Surpluses (GLADYS) tool. As a result, the charity distributed 25% more food this past year than the previous one (16,992 tonnes!), and reached 59% more people (772,390 people per week). FareShare’s support saved the charity sector approximately £28.7 million during the 2017-18 financial year. The charity’s commitment to understanding data uncovered a problem with “school holiday hunger”, and FareShare was able to swiftly mobilise a successful response. When the charity launched its annual ActiveAte programme, which aims to raise awareness of the estimated three million children in the UK at risk of experiencing hunger during school holidays, it was able to increase support from 200 school programmes in 2017 to 350 school programmes in 2018 and feed more than 50,000 children a week during the summer holidays.
Why they were shortlisted
The judges could see how the GLADYS tool streamlined distribution and enabled the charity to handle higher volumes of food. The board, focused on innovation, invested £450,000 in this transformative tool. In addition, the data generated is able to alert the charity to issues in its distribution process and the board is able to react quickly to problems and seize opportunities as they emerge. For instance, trustees actively helped the charity lobby for changes in DEFRA policy, using GLADYS data to identify benefits for people, the planet and profits when business embrace distribution of surplus food instead of committing it to bio-waste. With a new three-year budget cycle and dedicated Finance and Resources Committee focused on monitoring data generated by GLADYS and identifying opportunities and threats, the board has created a system for facilitating sustained growth and increased impact over time.
