Asda colleagues from the West of Scotland offered hands-on help at FareShare HQ in Glasgow, to help tackle food waste across the UK ahead of Asda’s annual Food Drive in May.
FareShare is the UK’s largest network of charitable food redistributors, tackling food waste and fighting hunger across the UK. Asda has been a key partner for FareShare since 2013, donating products such as fruit and vegetables, dried pasta and fresh meat from its distribution centres across the UK.
Six Asda Community Champions from the West of Scotland took a trip to visit Fareshare, to take a behind the scenes look at the charity’s operations, and the process Asda’s food donations go through before being redistributed to local communities and food banks.
In the past decade, Asda has donated over £13 million which has supported over 7000 charities and distributed over 30 million meals by reducing their food wastage and providing funding.
Ryan Rooney, Community Champion at Asda Maryhill said:
“Over the 10 years of working together, Asda has donated over £13 million to FareShare, to help those who need it most. It’s great to see how this partnership is making a difference to our communities every day.
“The whole experience was very informative, I was amazed at how much FareShare does, they don’t just support with surplus food! They help school leavers and up achieve skills and qualifications to help them find a job, from health and safety and first aid to learning how to drive.
“It’s outstanding all the work they do to help people, from fighting hunger and assisting people into work. I’m really looking forward to seeing the impact of the next 10 years of this partnership and continuing to support in any way we can, together we make a difference.”
Elizabeth Arbuckle, Community Champion, Asda Toryglen said:
“I first visited FareShare around 10 years ago, when the Asda Foundation donated funding to erect new racking to house the volumes of donated food. I was delighted to be invited back this year as I was able to see first-hand the incredible progress and growth of this charity.
“We received a tour of the premises and got a hands-on experience, meeting the groups who pick up food every week to donate it to the people who need it most. It was just a lovely day and we all got stuck in volunteering in the warehouse.
“From May 17th-19th, Community Champions will be supporting Asda’s annual food drive in partnership with the Trussell Trust, so we very much look forward to welcoming volunteers from foodbanks across the country into our stores to hold an in-person collection. Together we are making such a difference in our communities.”
