Impact Report 2017-18

Welcome Contents 03 What we do 04 Our food 08 Our members 11 Our volunteers 14 Our community 16 Our supporters 18 Our finances

Rachel Carless, FareShare Sussex Development Manager

Welcome to FareShare Sussex’s annual report. A lot has been achieved this year, and that is down to the passion and commitment of so many people. To all of our volunteers, funders, colleagues, Community Food Members and supporters alike, I would like to say a huge ‘thank you’. Without you, FareShare Sussex wouldn’t be able to carry out its important work to fight food waste and eliminate food poverty. FareShare Sussex began its life in 2002 distributing food to a handful of organisations. We ended this year supporting 116 charities and community groups who turn this surplus food into nutritious meals or give out food parcels, providing vital support to those in need. With only 5% of the available surplus food currently being re-distributed and 1 in 8 people in the UK going hungry, there is a lot more work to be done. This year we are upscaling our operation with the installation of a new industrial-scale fridge, additional vans and more staff and volunteers. We also continue to work in partnership with other voluntary organisations and local businesses to increase our impact. If you‘d like to find out more about how you can get involved, we’d love to hear from you. We offer a variety of volunteering opportunities both day and evening from as little as 3-4 hours per week. We also offer businesses flexible and fun partnership opportunities.

If you haven’t already, sign up to our monthly newsletters via the homepage of the website to keep in touch with all the latest news. If you are interesting in volunteering drop us a line to: volunteering@faresharesussex.org.uk.

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tonnes received

532

tonnes delivered

474

suppliers

+

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We received 532 tonnes of food during this period. 93% of the food received was surplus and would have otherwise gone to waste. The other 7% is non-perishable food that was donated by individuals to top up our surplus deliveries to our charity members.

The food we receive comes from all stages of the supply chain, from growers and manufacturers, to distributers and wholesalers, to supermarkets, cafes and bakeries. Food was received from over 150 suppliers during the year including regular donations from Arla, Amazon, Pret a Manger and many more. We have increased the number of local suppliers this year including Choccywoccydoodah , Bidfood and Mac Farm in Ditchling.

Our food

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“We will always do whatever we can to help our community and this is why we have chosen to work with FareShare Sussex and really make a difference to people’s lives”

The Flour Pot is a Brighton & Hove based wholesale and retail bakery with five city locations including a brand new licensed restaurant on Brighton Beach right next to the i360.

Since 2014, they have been the destination for people of all ages seeking real bread, delicious baked goods and great coffee.

“The Flour Pot Bakery is an integral part of each community it serves across Brighton and Hove. Whilst we endeavour every day to sell everything we have in our shops, it is not always possible.” They believe that their leftover food should be used as a resource for the community, and that partnering with FareShare Sussex is an ethical, safe and positive way to make this happen.

Supplier story: The Flour Pot Bakery

Member Story: Merstham Community Café

“We're very lucky to have joined forces with FareShare Sussex. Since opening in November 2017, we have used over a tonne of delicious surplus food in our cafe meals. There's a fantastic variety of produce which our creative chefs love to turn into healthy and affordable meals."

Every week the Merstham Mix Café caters for people in Merstham and the surrounding areas. Their main aim is to bring together the local community and offer hot and wholesome meals at a price that makes it affordable to everyone.

Promoting healthy, home-cooked food is a key objective of the café. “The food from FareShare Sussex has a huge impact and enables us to provide essential cookery workshops to the local community, tackle food waste and create nutritious meals”.

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Our members 8

97% of our charity members say without FareShare they couldn’t provide their current levels of food service or without a huge financial impact.

100% 94% of our charity members agree that FareShare’s service enables them to provide a greater variety of food.

This year the number of breakfast, pre/after school and youth clubs we support has increased significantly to form our largest beneficiary category.

We have seen an huge increase in the number of children and young people we are reaching, from 90 in 2016-2017 to 1052 in 2017-2018. The number of people who use community cafes has also risen by 785 over this period.

The data is based on 116 charities that received a regular delivery of food within 2017-18.

Nature of FareShare Sussex’s charity members

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of our charity food members would recommend our service to other charitable projects.

This year, Fareshare Sussex delivered food to 116 different community groups and charities across Sussex and Surrey, serving 8,691 beneficiaries in 12 local authorities. We are proud to have introduced our service to Surrey this year, and we will continue to expand our reach across Sussex and Surrey in the year ahead.

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“The service from FareShare enables us to run the café, we would be financially unsustainable without it. We need to keep the menu prices extremely low to attract clients in food poverty and to give free meals to food bank users”. - Merstham Community

“FareShare enables us to provide a whole spectrum of high quality food to our visitors” Lynn café volunteer

Member stories: The Macmillan Horizon Centre The Macmillan Horizon centre is a hub offering support services for people affected by cancer in Sussex. Established in 2016 their services include money advice, counselling, information, complimentary therapies and healthy cookery workshops.

Emma the café manager and the volunteers create soups and salads using the FareShare Sussex ingredients. Meals are provided on a suggested donation basis and free fruit is provided on every table.

“The food from FareShare gives me the opportunity to be creative and provide some variety in the weekly menu” says Emma. Some of the produce is also used in Macmillan's, ‘Eat well, feel better’ workshops, designed for people affected by cancer to build their cooking skills and knowledge. One of the participants who had never cooked from fresh before, has found these workshops have made a big difference to her confidence and the diet of her whole family. She regularly visits the café to excitedly describe what she’s cooked for herself and her family.

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100% of our volunteers would recommend FareShare Sussex to others

90% of corporate volunteers said they would volunteer with FareShare again as they felt they were, “giving something back to the community by making a real impact”.

of our charity members agree our volunteers are friendly, helpful and considerate

98%

“I really enjoyed my time at FareShare and hope to be able to volunteer again in some capacity. It’s a great insight into the food waste problem and humbling to see the work the charities and outreach projects are doing. Being unemployed it was great to have a reason to get out of bed in the morning.” Food Hero feedback

FareShare Sussex exists because of its amazing team of volunteers, who do everything from answer the phones to drive the vans. Our volunteer programme is open to everyone and we celebrate the diversity within our team. As well as tackling food waste and poverty, we support those seeking work into employment through the provision of support and training. This year FareShare Sussex has:

• Provided forklift truck training and certification for 6 volunteers

• Helped 26 volunteers complete their food safety training

• Supported 20 volunteers into employment (two are now staff!)

Our volunteers

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Volunteer stories: Sofia

Sofia tells us why volunteering is important to her.

“When I started volunteering here in October 2017, it gave me so much confidence as a person, a real boost of self-esteem and a feeling of value within society, knowing that I’m helping vulnerable individuals that are struggling to put food on the table.

Since gaining my forklift truck licence I am now able to assist with unloading the pallets of food that arrive on site daily.

I’m very committed to FareShare, where I was welcomed with open arms and treated like a human being.

Thank you FareShare”.

Our volunteers

Student Volunteer story: Nabhojit is currently completing a Masters at Sussex University.

During Student Volunteering Week he told us about his motivations to get involved.

“Volunteering is a great way of meeting people from different backgrounds in an informal setting. I volunteer because it gives me an opportunity to do meaningful work for the society in which I live, to get to know the people and learn from them.

At FareShare, I have gained lots of knowledge about people, food and culture. I have made some wonderful friends and I have learnt from them how to work together and take pride in your work. I have gained respect among my peers who listen to my volunteering experience with great interest. I have also increased my understanding of surplus food, and how local organisations work together to tackle the issue of food waste”.

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Our community 14

A community member and supporter story: Edward Drake

“I moved to Brighton two years ago and was shocked at the extent of homelessness on the streets. What shocked me more was the number of people struggling with hunger and desperate for food in such a prosperous city. For many of us, food poverty is something that we associate with developing countries, yet surprisingly it is a very real issue all over the UK. This led to my research into local food banks, where I stumbled across a fabulous charity called FareShare Sussex. They work with a range of companies across the food supply chain and ensure that their surplus food is re-distributed to charities and community groups including hostels, community centres and organisations supporting homeless people across Sussex.

To start with I simply made a few donations but I wanted to do more. I had the idea to put together a local football team and invite people to pledge a fixed donation for every point we accumulated throughout the season. I decided on the team name Brighton Lights FC, hoping we would succeed in reminding people that there is always light at the end of tunnel.

The attitude of everyone involved has been brilliant, determined to raise some money for such a worthy cause. At the end of this season, I am pleased to say we managed to raise £960”.

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The Sussex Gleaning Network, a project of the national organisation Feedback Global, works with farmers to salvage fresh fruit and vegetables and direct this nutritious food to people in need.

Over the past year their volunteers have gleaned over 20 tonnes of produce that would have otherwise gone to waste, including apples, pears, sweetcorn, spinach, plums and cherries. FareShare Sussex works with the Gleaning Network to distribute this produce to our charity members after it has been rescued.

Some of our community highlights from the year

Our partnerships: The Gleaning Network

FareShare Sussex could not have achieved anything we have celebrated within this report without its supporters, whether that support is a five figure financial donation, volunteer hours or in-kind support from a local business. We would like to say a very large, sincere thank you to every person, business, community group, and public body that has believed in and helped FareShare Sussex carry out its work this year.

Our supporters 16

Some of our grant-giving organisations and bodies

Other individuals and organisations

Our Trustees and Steering Group members for their strategic direction & guidance.

Richard Wright & Julia Claxton for brilliant photographs.

Brian Martin for gifting creative digital and print design expertise.

Our individual donors and fundraisers, particularly our Friends of FareShare monthly givers.

All of our food suppliers including those of you who have held food collections or donated items at collection points at the supermarket.

Our fantastic volunteers whose commitment and talents continue to amaze us & make us proud every day.

Supporter story: Silo Restaurant

We are proud to be a charity partner with Silo, Brighton’s multi award-winning zero waste restaurant.

FareShare Sussex relies on the support of the community to keep up our work, and we are very excited about working together with such a brilliant local business that shares our passion for a fairer food system.

The partnership kicked off with a discretionary £1 donation on Silo’s food bills to give their customers the opportunity to support our work when they visit the restaurant. In addition,

Silo has pledged to support FareShare Sussex across the year with other initiatives and events.

Silo chef and owner, Douglas McMaster: “Tackling food waste is a two sided coin. Silo’s is a model that prevents waste from the outset, and FareShare ensures that the surplus created by the wider food industry does not end up in the bin. We’re extremely grateful to partner with FareShare Sussex, knowing that we can see both sides to better understand the bigger picture. Our partnership will serve as a reminder of why we do what we do.”

Our finances FareShare Sussex does all it can to keep our fundraising and governance costs low to ensure that donations are spent on our charitable activities - delivering surplus food to where it is most needed. Due to a healthy financial year and restricted funding carried over to fulfil a longer-term project, our income has notably outweighed our expenditure this year.

Full accounts will be available from the charity commission. All figures are subject to auditing.

Total Expenditure £259,682

Charitable Activities £248,816 (95%)

Cost of generating income £10,653 (4.6%)

Governance Costs £213.00 (<1%)

Total Income £318,439

Voluntary income (grants, donations etc.) £211,952 (67%)

Other income (events, project admin fees, hire income etc.) £104,424 (33%)

(Other income £2063.00 (<1%)

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Get involved 19

Volunteer We’re always on the lookout for volunteers. From drivers and forklift truck operators to warehouse workers, public speakers and office administrators, we need a diverse range of skills to keep the organisation thriving. Get in touch today to speak to us about what positions are available.

Fundraise One of the best ways you can help FareShare is by raising money for us. We do all we can to keep costs low, but we need support from the community to keep our vans on the road. Contact us or visit our website for lots of ideas to get started.

Become a business partner We offer a range of flexible business partnership options, many of which include team volunteering days. Partnering with us is a fantastic way to introduce your brand to our charity members and wider network. Through sponsoring a van, for example, you will increase your visibility and demonstrate your commitment to making a difference within our community. Contact us to find out how we can work together to save more food and change more lives.

Donate food If you are a food business or individual that would like to make a food donation get in touch today. Please note we cannot accept unlabelled prepared foods or items passed their ‘use by’ dates.

Web: www.faresharesussex.org.uk Email: info@faresharesussex.org.uk Telephone: 01273 671 111

faresharesussex.org.uk

info@faresharesussex.org.uk

01273 671 111

Find us at: Unit 3 Fairway Business Centre, Westergate Road, Brighton BN2 4JZ

FareShare Sussex is operated by registered charity City Gate Community Projects Charity number: 1093245