To celebrate #VolunteersWeek 2020, we’ll be sharing stories of our amazing volunteers every day this week.
Here at FareShare GM our volunteers are like a big, busy family. Eleven of our current volunteers have been with us for over a year, and they just keep coming back for more! Throughout this Volunteers’ Week, we want to take the time to thank and celebrate veteran volunteers who have been with us for some time now.
Our veteran volunteers come from all walks of life, but they are united by one common goal: helping their local community by donating food. Our veteran volunteers have helped FareShare GM donate thousands of meals to people in need, and we are extremely grateful for their ongoing dedication to our cause.
Veteran volunteers have also played a major role in helping us expand our food donation efforts across Greater Manchester. Thanks to veteran volunteers’ hard work, FareShare GM has been able to provide more necessary food donations at the same time as increasing its reach in the community.
Our experienced ‘veterans’ are full of knowledge and have been vital over the last few weeks in guiding and supporting our influx of new volunteers as we work hard to get food out to frontline charities during the lockdown. Some of our longest-serving team members are veteran volunteers who have been with us for so long that it’s hard to imagine life without them. For example, Glynis Platt (pictured above with Greater Manchester Mayor, Andy Burnham), has been a valued part of our customer service team for 8 years and counting.
Many of our veteran volunteers started out with a particular interest or goal in mind.For instance, Jackie Price joined us in 2017 and has stayed for the friendships and camaraderie.
“My first motivation was about giving back. Food was my interest, as a retired Home Economics teacher. Equally now, it’s the people I volunteer with – I can see everyone giving 100% and that’s a wonderful thing. The more I’ve got to know the work and the more responsibility I’ve been given, it makes me want to carry on. I like the social side – the annual barbecue and our Christmas event. Volunteering for me is about doing it because you want to.”
Jackie Price
Volunteer
Steve Kitcher, who joined us the same year, has a similar story:
“When I started volunteering I was looking for a commitment to keep myself active. I’ve become used to working in a team – it’s so different from the work situations I’ve been in before. I
’m fascinated by how much we get done in what can be challenging circumstances. I have a long journey which at times I don’t relish, but once I get to FareShare it’s great fun and that’s credit to the team.”
Steve Kitcher
Volunteer
We want to give a particularly special thank you at this time to our regular volunteers who must isolate themselves at home due to the coronavirus. 11% of our volunteers are aged 70 or over. Additionally, between them, they bestow an astounding 25 years of service to FareShare. We’re looking forward to welcoming them back and enjoying many more years of their company once the pandemic is over.
To celebrate #VolunteersWeek 2020, we’ll be sharing stories of our amazing volunteers every day this week. Check out our other food stories as well as our latest news updates at Fareshare Greater Manchester.
Since lockdown, we’re welcoming an influx of new volunteers willing to go the extra mile. Sometimes literally even, to help deliver food to our frontline charity members. Today, we’re celebrating our furlough volunteers.
Over the last 10 weeks, over 8 million people from all walks of life have found themselves in furlough by their employer. Moreover, research suggests that nearly a quarter have been dedicating some of their free time to volunteering for charity.
Here at FareShare Greater Manchester, we’ve welcomed a host of fantastic ‘furloughers’ to our volunteering family. For example, James Ward, who joins as a warehouse assistant in April:
“When I was furloughed, I registered to help at FareShare. I enjoy it – it’s knowing that I’m being helpful, and I’m fitter too! When customers come to collect, they’re always very grateful and say ‘keep up the good work’. It makes me feel part of the effort.”
James Ward
Warehouse Assistant
One of our new volunteers has even gone the extra mile – 91 in fact – to support us. Alice Murfitt, who joined in March, has recently finished running a mind-boggling seven half marathons in seven days to raise money for FareShare GM and Rainbows Children’s Hospice in the East Midlands.
“This is the first time I’ve volunteered for FareShare,” she said. “I’m so proud to know that I’m playing a key part in helping to tackle food poverty in and around Greater Manchester.
“The 7 half marathons in 7 days challenge was the first individual fundraising effort I’ve ever undertaken. I’ve always been a keen runner. It felt like the perfect time in my life to be able to do my part and give something back to two charities very close to my heart.
If anyone reading this is new to FareShare, or would like to get involved and volunteer too, I couldn’t recommend it enough. They have been one the most friendly and welcoming organisations I’ve ever been part of.”
Alice Murfitt
Volunteer
Alice has so far raised an amazing £4,400 and you can still donate to her fundraiser until August. What an incredible achievement!
To celebrate #VolunteersWeek2020, we’ll be sharing stories of our amazing volunteers every day this week.
The need for our services has soared since the coronavirus outbreak. But thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our ESSENTIAL volunteers we’re keeping up with demand and getting food out to frontline charities and community responders.
Since the lockdown began the volume of food we’ve distributed has almost doubled week on week. We rely on charity volunteers to help sort, allocate, pack and deliver food orders for our Community Food Members. Nearly half of our regular volunteers must self-isolate due to age or underlying health conditions.
Thankfully though, we’re handling loads of new applicants swooping in to fill the gap. In fact, so many people have applied to become a volunteer since the lockdown began that we’ve had to introduce a waiting list.
We currently have 70 people volunteering for charity in Manchester with us each week, many of whom face the effects of the coronavirus. Some are workers on furlough or students wanting to spend their free time in lockdown helping a good cause. Others have unfortunately lost their jobs.
FareShare GM is committed to ensuring that surplus food is redistributed to those who need it most. By volunteering with us, you’ll be making a real difference in the lives of people who are struggling to access nutritious food. Our volunteers are the lifeblood of our organization, and we’re grateful for their dedication and hard work.
“I wanted to combat staying in, sitting around moping. I volunteer in the warehouse as well as driving. As a driver, I’m out in the community, I see how people appreciate the food. It’s humbling to see volunteers preparing the food packs – I’ve not been connected to community before but now I can see how people care.”
Jamie Pimblett
Volunteer
“The coronavirus crisis has presented a challenge like nothing we’ve seen before and volunteers like Jamie have been working tirelessly each week to get food into the communities who need it most.
“We have been bowled over by the support we’ve received from so many people wanting to help through such a critical and uncertain time – including our regular volunteers who help all year round as well as those who have recently started with us. During Volunteers’ Week we want to take this opportunity to give them a huge and heartfelt thank you.”
Elizabeth Lauder
Volunteer Manager at FareShare Greater Manchester
To celebrate #VolunteersWeek 2020, we’ll be sharing stories of our amazing volunteers every day this week.
Thanks to the amazing efforts of our supporters and volunteers as we ramped up in response to lockdown. Accordingly, FareShare delivered enough food to create almost 1 million meals to frontline charities in just 10 weeks.
Back in 2019, we delivered over 1,268 tonnes of in-date surplus food to 250 charities. These included school breakfast clubs, food banks and community centres. That was enough to create an incredible 3 million meals. We set out to match that in the following year but the coronavirus pandemic forced us to ramp things up even further. Since the lockdown came into effect, we had already delivered 397 tonnes of food. That was enough to create 938,524 meals.
Demand for our food sky-rocketed during lockdown. We estimated as many as 51,000 people were accessing our food each week. As well as fresh food, we’ve been supplying packets and tins. All to help charities, local authorities and other organisations create food parcels for those who are vulnerable or self-isolating.
One of these was Poplar Street Primary in Tameside, which normally uses FareShare food for breakfast and after school clubs but has been delivering food parcels to families.
“Schools might have closed through the lockdown but in many respects our partnership with FareShare enables Poplar Street Primary to become a different kind of community hub. Without FareShare, there would be hardship and hunger on a scale that we’ve probably never experienced in our communities, but through our partnership we’re able to reach our community, providing families with a weekly food delivery which stops them from having to go out to the shops and spend money they really can’t afford.”
Iain Linsdell
Headteacher
“FareShare has done phenomenal work delivering food to charities and local authorities throughout our city region. The work of charities like FareShare will be critical to maintaining that support as we look to recover from this period and build back in a way that’s fairer and better for all.”
Andy Burnham
Mayor of Greater Manchester
As we entered #VolunteersWeek2020, we wanted to say a big thank you to all the fantastic volunteers. Thanks especially to those who are helping us get food out at such a critical time. These were tough times for everyone and it was heartening to see communities pull together as they have.
Research showed that it was likely even more people found themselves in hardship in the difficult months to come. We relocated to a larger warehouse to provide even more food to those who needed it. We still needed your help to fund our costs. Could you help us raise the £500,000 we needed?
Look out for more news soon on how you could get involved in our response to the coronavirus crisis.
2 VIP Hospitality Tickets To Man Utd vs Norwich City from Fareshare GM!
The award-winning FareShare GM team distributed 1,315 tonnes of good food to good causes across Greater Manchester. That’s the equivalent of over 3 million meal portions and 4,807 tonnes of carbon emissions saved. The team say they are working as hard as they can because there are 620,000 people struggling to get by in the region, including 200,000 children and young people.
FareShare GM Community Food Members use the food they receive from FareShare to provide things like hot meals at night shelters and day centres for vulnerable people; breakfasts in school, so that children start the day well; food clubs and pantries that improve access to fresh food in local neighbourhoods; and food parcels for people in crisis situations. To keep going, the FareShare GM team fundraises all the time.
FareShare GM received a donation of VIP hospitality football tickets for the 11 January 2020 match at Old Trafford between Manchester United and Norwich City.
The tickets were believed to have a value of hundreds of pounds. Holding an auction seemed like the thing to do but then one of the team members suggested trying a raffle so that as many people as possible could get involved. The team hoped to raise £1,400 which would cover the costs of one FareShare day in 2020.
Here are the details for what the lucky winner received….
The prize included the following:
Even if you were not a Red Devils or Canaries fan, the tickets could have been a great Christmas present!
The cost for the raffle tickets was £10 each and could be purchased by calling 0161 223 8200 and choosing option 7.
The winner was announced at 5 pm on Monday 23 December 2019 and the word was spread through Social Media to football-loving friends by sharing this great sporting treat news or creating new hashtags, using the #Footie4FareShareGM hashtag, or #manchesterunited #norwichcityfc #foodpoverty #foodwaste.
Facebook: FareShare GM Facebook Page
Twitter: @FareShareGM
Instagram: faresharegm
We’re delighted to have, once again, been selected as one of the beneficiary charities for the Co-op supermarket Local Causes scheme. This initiative allows Co-op members to support charity shopping while enjoying their everyday purchases. By participating, shoppers can make a positive impact in their community without any additional cost.
Co-op members can choose our parent charity, EMERGE 3Rs, as their cause to support, simply by presenting their membership card at the till when paying for selected own-brand products. Tthe Co-op will then donate a percentage of the value to FareShare Greater Manchester.
If you don’t have a membership card, signing up is quick and easy. Just visit their webpage and fill in the form. Once you’re a member, go to our official EMERGE 3Rs page and select us. By doing so, you actively engage in support charity shopping every time you buy selected products. From then on, every time you shop, as well as stocking your own larder, you could be helping to donate food to the good causes we support across Greater Manchester.
If you do some of your Christmas shopping at the Co-op this December, you could be giving people in need a little gift too.
The scheme is valid at any Co-op store in the UK, including Northern Ireland.
“You feel most valuable when you’re giving something back.”
Volunteers are at the heart of everything that’s achieved at FareShare Greater Manchester. From driving vans to allocating food, data analysis and relentless fundraising, volunteers give their time and commitment in all weathers, 6 days a week, all year round. In fact, the time given by FareShare GM volunteers is the equivalent of 10 full-time staff. The commitment shown by FareShare GM volunteers recently secured them the Best Volunteer Team award at this year’s Spirit of Manchester Awards.
Every volunteer has a different reason to take part. Accordingly, here’s one story from a recent recruit…
When Tom Shephard (44) attended a community outreach event in Openshaw, Manchester and stopped to chat to EMERGE staff, he was immediately keen on the work we do. As an electronic engineer with a strong sustainability ethos, Tom has a long-standing interest in environmentally-focused initiatives and waste reduction. Prior to moving to Manchester he was the technical lead on cutting edge research project. It investigates the replacement of fossil fuel for marine vessels.
Once the project came to a close, Tom relocated and began volunteering in his local community. He discovered that he had an interest in food waste. As soon as he hears about FareShare GM’s work, he recognises that the charity would be a very good fit. Subsequently, Tom begins volunteering at the end of October.
Since that time, Tom has undertaken a variety of tasks in the FareShare GM warehouse; starting with picking and packing orders, and then venturing out and about on the vans, making deliveries to many of the Community Food Members FareShare GM supports.
The accomplishment he is most proud of so far has been passing his recent driving test. It assesses his ability to take the delivery vans out on the road. He says this isn’t the sort of role he ever would imagine doing due to anxiety which affects his confidence. But he feels comfortable and encouraged within the FareShare team so put himself forward.
Here on International Volunteer Day, Tom adds that he’s very impressed by the way FareShare operates. Especially with regard to what he calls its ‘gentle approach to volunteers’. He adds that he has found “a good ethos at the heart of the organisation, where people support one another.” This has been especially beneficial for Tom in meeting challenges the role presents, such as working at speed in the warehouse. His anxiety can sometimes block his ability to perform even simple tasks. Accordingly, he says that the “relaxation and supportive atmosphere” definitely helps him.
He’s also happy to rediscover the positives of working within a team on something worthwhile. In short, it helps build his confidence and, in turn, better enables him to support others. He feels sure that helping those in need in his community has contributed significantly to his own sense of self-worth. “You feel most valuable when you’re giving something back” he says.
His advice to anyone thinking about volunteering with FareShare Greater Manchester is to stop by and have a go. “It’s far less scary than you might think it is” he says. “If you’ve been burned by bad experiences and cut off from society, this will help.”
“I can tell that EMERGE and FareShare Greater Manchester have a great ethos that runs through the whole organisation. It’s lovely to know that this is here, and there’s a genuine hope for me that this will remain part of my life. I feel that this is a family, and not one I want to lose.”
Great news! The Amazon Smile giving facility has now been added to the Amazon mobile app! Now you can support FareShare GM’s work when you shop on your phone or tablet. Because Amazon will donate a percentage of what you have paid for selected goods to us on every eligible item you purchase.
First make sure you have the newest version of the Amazon mobile app on your device – (you can check this in your app store, such as Google Play, by searching for the app, and when you find it, you will be told whether an update is available).
Open the Amazon mobile app on your device and select the three horizontal bars at the top left hand of your screen.
Scroll down the list of options to SETTINGS and click on this to open a secondary list. From this list, select ‘Amazon Smile.’
If you have already chosen FareShare Greater Manchester as your charity for when you are online shopping on your desktop computer, ‘EMERGE 3Rs’ (the name of our parent charity) will pop up on your screen in the app. Click on the ‘Turn On Amazon Smile’ button underneath ‘EMERGE 3Rs.’
If you haven’t already chosen us as your beneficiary when shopping online, search for us under the name ‘EMERGE 3Rs.’
If you have previously chosen a different charity, but would like to switch to us, click on the ‘Change Charity’ option under the name of your existing charity and then search for us under the name ‘EMERGE 3Rs’ and then click the ‘Turn on Amazon Smile’ button and follow the rest of the instructions.
You can also support us by using the desktop version of Amazon by going to the Amazon Smile webpage, choosing us, and then shopping as usual.
From now on every time you shop with Amazon Smile you will be helping us help people in need whilst tackling waste and environmental pollution.
Thank you in advance!
Did you give just 3 hours to collect enough food for 600 meals?
Thank you to all who supported our work by volunteering at the UK’s largest food drive.
At FareShare, we helped over 10,943 charities make 46.5 million meals a year by saving over 20,838 tonnes of good quality surplus food from the food industry. The Tesco Food Collection was a vital source of longer-life items such as rice, pasta and tin goods, making your support invaluable. It was a chance for you to become a Christmas hero!
We hoped you joined us on Thursday 21st November, Friday 22nd November or Saturday 23rd November.
Only three hours of your time was needed, either between 9-12 pm, 12-3 pm, 3-6 pm or 6-9 pm. You were simply in-store, handing out shopping lists of preferred goods to encourage shoppers to donate those items. Moreover, it was a quick and easy way to make a huge difference in the lives of vulnerable people.
1. Team sign-up: If you are a business with a team of employees ready to be heroes against hunger this Christmas, be sure to email us. We suggest signing up in small groups of up to 3 people per 3-hour session. However, you can also sign up for larger groups if you wish. Above all, just get in touch with us and we will organise this for you.
2. Individual sign-up: Sign up as an individual or bring your family and friends with you.
Full information is also available here about food collection. You can register as an individual or take along a friend, family member or colleague at your local Tesco store.
In 2018, FareShare Greater Manchester (FSGM) achieved a remarkable milestone by redistributing 3 million meals to individuals facing food insecurity. This staggering increase of 50% from the previous year underscored FSGM’s commitment to fighting hunger and reducing food waste.
FareShare Greater Manchester the largest regional branch of FareShare UK, played a crucial role in providing quality surplus food to 222 charities and community groups across Manchester and the wider region. These included homeless hostels, school breakfast clubs, and community cafes, supporting over 26,000 people in food poverty weekly.
FSGM marked a significant achievement during its 10-year anniversary of fighting hunger and food waste. To celebrate, FSGM launched an appeal for volunteers to meet growing food provision demand.
In 2018, FareShare Greater Manchester redistributed 3 million meals, significantly impacting those facing food insecurity in the region. Quality surplus food provided weekly through charities and community groups alleviated hunger and enhanced the well-being of individuals and families. FareShare’s tireless commitment to fighting hunger and reducing food waste led to a staggering increase of 50% in the redistribution of meals from the previous year, making it an achievement worth celebrating.
“Since first opening a decade ago, FareShare has provided 11 million meals to those in need across Greater Manchester – a phenomenal achievement which is testament to our tireless commitment to fighting hunger and reducing food waste. Currently, more than half of Greater Manchester’s children are living in poverty. To help more children and families by providing access to good food, FareShare needs more volunteers. These are the food heroes – the ones sorting the food, putting orders together and delivering to frontline charities – who are vital to our operation. We are very proud of what we have achieved but recognise the human need this represents. We are committed to doing even more in 2019.”
Miranda Kaunang
Head of Development at FareShare Greater Manchester