No one should go hungry at Christmas.

But as 15 percent of households live in food insecurity, FareShare Yorkshire is gearing up for one of their busiest winter periods yet – and they’d really appreciate your help to get food out to those who need it most.

As the UK’s longest established food distribution charity, FareShare is leading the way when it comes to turning an environmental issue into a social solution. The Yorkshire branch, which has warehouses in Wombwell and Leeds, has been running since 1998 and is now one of 25 regional centres.

It takes in surplus ambient, chilled, frozen and fresh food from manufacturers and supermarkets to share out amongst 400 charities and community groups in Yorkshire that will put it to good use. 

Whether that’s a healthy breakfast for schoolchildren to start the day, a hot meal for the homeless at soup kitchens, or a lunch club for the elderly who are lonely and isolated; every meal provided not only cuts waste but also helps to improve some of society’s most pressing issues.

Over 270,000 tonnes of perfectly edible surplus food is thrown away each year. 

Most of the food FareShare Yorkshire receives from supermarkets or manufacturers has never made it to shelves due to things like packaging or weight errors, offers that have ended, bulk orders that have been cancelled, or a product they made too much of.  

However, this year, FareShare Yorkshire have noticed that stock levels have reduced, not helped by the inclement weather; waterlogged fields has meant there has been less surplus food from their suppliers.

But they have seen an unprecedented demand for food. Over the last 12 months they redistributed enough food for 4.2 million meals. 

That’s a lot of stock to shift.

FareShare Yorkshire relies on the hard work of their loyal team of volunteers who are responsible for sorting, storing and recording the food deliveries, picking and packing food orders, and driving the parcels around the region to the charities.

But they are in constant need of more volunteers to help. Whether you can spare a few hours a day or help out once a week, you’ll be part of a welcoming team made up of people from all walks of life. It’s also a great opportunity for corporate team building or staff wellbeing days.

Along with redistributing surplus food, FareShare Yorkshire runs an award-winning employability programme for people with little to no work experience. Participants gain on-the-job experience in the warehouse, building soft skills like punctuality, appropriate language and behaviour. But there is also the opportunity to receive accredited training in areas like forklift truck driving, manual handling and health and safety.

The Barnsley warehouse also has a training kitchen called FullCrumb which opened in 2020 to support charities with how best to use the surplus food they receive.

For instance, they might get a celeriac in their parcel and not have a clue how to prepare or cook with it, so it gets wasted – which just defeats the object of the charity. They can also support charities and FareShare Yorkshire volunteers with training in things like food hygiene, allergens, nutrition and knife skills.

They have had examples where volunteers who came in to pick and pack in the warehouse have applied for jobs in hospitality. They might have had no interest in food or eating, but gained the confidence and skills needed for a job in catering.

For more information about FareShare Yorkshire and how to get involved this festive season, visit www.fareshareyorkshire.org or follow them on Instagram @fareshareyorks and @FullCrumbKitch