Nicola is, rightly, very proud of herself. Everyone has been raving about the fresh vegetable soup that she’s made from scratch for the first time. The soup was served with sandwiches as part of the weekend food offer at Homeless Support Project (HSP) Leigh where, as a volunteer, Nicola’s running the show.
This may not sound remarkable, but Nicola has lived experience of needing the support HSP offers. A year ago, she says, she would have been too nervous to share her story. Nicola says HSP “saved my life”. She explains that she was homeless but she’s stopped taking drugs and her mental health is now much better.
Founded by husband-and-wife team, Lynn and Paul, with support from seven staff and 12 volunteers, HSP has been running for over a decade. The charity pledges to ‘work towards a brighter future for those struggling and in need, and also anyone who is homeless or at risk of homelessness in the Wigan & Leigh district’.
Using food from FareShare Greater Manchester and locally sourced donations, HSP offers a free breakfast and evening meal every weekday, with soup and a sandwich over the weekend. They are seeing between 30 to 40 people each day. This figure is increasing at around ten percent each week, particularly when the weather gets colder.
Lynn tells us that she expects the team to sit and eat with people visiting the project. She wants staff and volunteers to build trusted relationships. This helps understanding about what help their guests need, as well as offering a service that is empathetic and dignified.
The HSP team are fierce advocates for people experiencing homelessness locally and fight for them on all fronts. The charity works closely with other professionals, and in the offices above the café, there’s a range of practical support services on offer. Guests can get help with benefits and housing advice, probation services and health clinics.
Alongside the very practical services, there is a great warmth for the guests at HSP, especially at special times of the year. Christmas dinner is served to anyone who wants it and last year, the team was expecting around 60 guests, all of whom were to receive a shoebox of goodies including toiletries, socks and chocolate treats.
The weekly bingo session is highlight of the week for many – none more so than 80-year-old Iris who has become a grandmother figure at the hub. Iris turned up for bingo a year ago, not realising what HSP was about and is still going! Before coming to HSP, Iris was scared of the people she saw on the streets of Leigh, but now when they see her they offer to carry her shopping. Iris provides a much-needed dose of love and normality and she gets love and company in return.
It’s impossible to adequately convey the breadth of the work that Homeless Support Project does, but it’s co-founder, Lynn sums it up; “where would they be if they weren’t here? It’s heartbreaking.”
Learn more about Homeless Support Project, Leigh, here. If you are from an organisation or charity supporting your community with food and are interested in joining our Community Food Membership, like Homeless Support Project, you can find out more here.
The impact of having the £2 bag on my family has been massive. I am following a healthy eating diet and was struggling to afford fresh fruit and veg, but not any more. We are cooking from scratch every day and eating at least 5 a day.
Vegelicious fruit & veg bag recipient
Barlow Hall Primary School
Barlow Hall Primary School in Chorlton signed up to our Vegelicious scheme in June 2025, having been one of our Community Food Members for almost a decade. The beneficiaries of the Vegelicious deliveries are children and families at the school and Barlow Hall Sure Start Children’s Centre users too.
The school runs a breakfast and after school club which is supported by its regular FareShare delivery. The additional fruit and veg it receives is now used to make up fruit and veg bags for families. Costing just £2 per bag – they’ve been a roaring success!
From a weekly delivery of 800kg of mixed fruit and veg, Sharon, the Parent Support Advisor at Barlow Hall, alongside her three parent volunteers, make up bags of produce for families to buy for £2. The charge covers the cost of the delivery and allows some bags to be handed out for free. The scheme’s open to any families at the school and the neighbouring Sure Start Centre. To encourage recycling, parents are asked to bring in a bag for life, cutting down on the families’ carbon footprint and reducing plastic waste.
Sharon says “the feedback for Vegelicious has been incredible! Parents are so pleased with the amount of fresh produce they get for £2. Lots of them are asking if they can pay more! One parent told us there was enough veg for them to have a portion every day that week, that they normally couldn’t afford”.
She continues, “We have had lots of positive conversations with children and parents about vegetables in particular. Children will come into school the following morning and tell us what they tried the night before. We hand out recipes with the bags and chat with parents about how to sneak veg into their their everyday meals, for example grating courgette really finely and adding it to Bolognese, stews or chilli”.
Three parents with children at the school signed up immediately to volunteer and help run the fruit and veg bag project making it more sustainable. The school says it’s now able to support the local community with low cost fresh fruit and veg to ensure no family goes without. Additionally, two of the parent volunteers have accessed training as a result of their involvement in the project.
Going forward, the school is planning to developing its own growing patch for vegetables within the school, working with children across the school from reception to Year 6 along with parents and community partners. Along with Vegelicious, these activities will be incorporated into its refreshed Healthy Schools approach this autumn term.
My Mum brought home lots of vegetables last night and I tried some corn on the cob. I really liked it and never had it like that before.
Barlow Hall School Pupil
If you’re from a charity or community group supporting those experiencing food insecurity and would like to know more, please get in touch with Sharon, our Vegelicious Coordinator by emailing sharon.robinson@emergemanchester.co.uk.
“By helping us feed those most in need, FareShare enables us to go beyond food provision, we can also offer emotional support, wellbeing activities and employability training. The food gives us a way to connect with people, rebuild trust and bring hope when it’s needed most.”
Margaret Faith Edet
Founder of Family Unit Trust
Family Unit Trust, based in Miles Platting, was set up by Margaret Faith Edet after the experience her family faced when her young child was diagnosed with cancer and her husband was left fighting for his life.
Margaret, who is from Nigeria, took her eight-month-old baby to the doctor after noticing changes in their eye. The GP dismissed her concerns but several weeks later when her child’s condition worsened, she took her child to hospital where the family’s worst fears were confirmed. It was a rare and aggressive form of eye cancer.
At the time, Margaret was pregnant and her husband fell critically ill with a liver abscess. The family had no financial support or work authorisation from the Home Office – they faced immense emotional and practical challenges as they navigated their terribly difficult situation. In time, Margaret’s child was successfully treated for cancer, although they did lose their eye and her husband recovered from his illness and now helps her run Family Unit Trust.
Margaret says “From that painful experience came a promise – that no other family facing illness or crisis would feel alone, ignored or unsupported.” Family Unit Trust’s main beneficiaries are families and individuals affected by cancer, hardship and crisis, many of whom are on low incomes or at risk of homelessness. They support people who are struggling financially due to illness, unemployment or other challenging life circumstances. Their food support ensures no family facing cancer or hardship goes hungry.
By working with FareShare Greater Manchester, they say “we are able to extend this vital lifeline, providing not only food, but also comfort, dignity and community connection to those who need it most.”
Family Unit Trust offers a range of practical and emotional support services in addition to food support. They say “FareShare Greater Manchester has been a true lifeline to our charity since day one. Their food allows us to reach families and individuals who are struggling with illness, financial hardship or crisis”. They use the food to prepare and distribute nutritious food parcels for families affected by cancer, single parents, refugees and people facing homelessness.
Margaret says that of the many people Family Unit Trust have helped since they started, one story stands out to her: a single mother undergoing cancer treatment who was struggling to feed her children. Margaret explains, “Through our partnership with FareShare Greater Manchester, we provided regular food support so she could focus on recovery without worrying about meals. Her children later joined our wellbeing and activity sessions, which helped them smile again and rebuild confidence. She also took part in our employability training and is now volunteering with us. She told us, ‘You didn’t just feed my family – you gave us a fresh start.’”
In addition to the food and wellbeing support offered at Family Unit Trust, the organisation is actively raising awareness within the BAME community about cancer in general.
Family Unit Trust is currently preparing for its 5th Anniversary celebrations with a Fundraising Gala Event in December. They will bring together their supporters, partners and community members to reflect on how far they’ve come and to raise vital funds that will allow them to continue the work they do. They are also launching a new Community Hub at their centre, where families can access food support, wellbeing sessions, employability training and social activities all under the same roof.
Margaret says the partnership between FareShare Greater Manchester and Family Unit Trust is about more than just receiving food, “it’s about partnership, community and hope. FareShare helps us make sure no one in our area goes hungry, while also giving us the chance to connect with people, rebuild lives and spread kindness when it’s needed most.”
For more information about Family Unit Trust and the work they do, check out their websites here: https://www.familyunittrust.org.uk/
If you are interested in joining the FareShare Greater Manchester Community Food Membership like Family Unit Trust, please get in touch with Karina, our Information & Membership Coordinator at membership@emergemanchester.co.uk or call 0161 223 8200.
“With four kids of different ages, it’s hard to please them all – but Hurst Fest did it!”
Parent attending Hurst Fest 2025
1,400 people attended Hurst Fest 2025 – the day-long family festival run by Smallshaw-Hurst Children’s Community. The event, held at Cedar Park on Queens Road in Ashton-under-Lyne took place on 21st August was completely free to anyone who wanted to attend. It was one of a couple of projects run by the organisation during the summer holidays – the other being Holiday Bites.
There was a real variety of stalls and activities for people to enjoy at Hurst Fest, including festival hair and make-up, henna painting, inflatables, free burger vans (with halal and vegan options), live music, sports tasters and even a stall run by FareShare Greater Manchester.
Over the course of the day 500 superheroes, butterflies and tigers were painted onto children’s faces, 500 free hotdogs and burgers were consumed along with 550 free ice creams and lollies. It was thanks to volunteers, parents, grandparents and neighbours who raised funds, organised stalls and ran the day.
“The food bags meant I could focus on buying school shoes instead of worrying about buying extra lunches & snacks and we still ate well”
Parent
Holiday Bites
The other project run by Smallshaw-Hurst Children’s Community this summer was ‘Holiday Bites’. Research by the organisation revealed that local families often avoided their Pantry Store during the school holidays. Parents explained that they didn’t want their children to see them queueing for discounted food.
By offering Holiday Bites, in partnership with FareShare Greater Manchester, they were able to tackle holiday hunger, food poverty, stigma and food waste at the same time. During the scheme, 800 shopping bags worth over £12,000 were shared over 4 weeks preventing fresh veg and staples from going to waste.
In addition to the food bag distribution, families were given the opportunity to come together and cook, swapping new recipes and trying out new ingredients. More than 100 families tried new recipes together and more than 200 children got hands-on with the holiday cooking project. Families were able to swap recipe ideas across cultures
Following on from the success of Hurst Fest 2025, the Smallshaw-Hurst Children’s Community volunteers are already speaking to grant funders and local businesses about sponsoring Hurst Fest 2026.
Holiday Bites was supported by FareShare Greater Manchester through the Vegelicious scheme, which offers bulk orders of fruit and veg to community organisations. Participants just need to commit to receive either a half pallet (400kg) or a full pallet (800kg) of mixed fruit and vegetables on a regular basis (either weekly or fortnightly).
If you’re from a charity or community group supporting those experiencing food insecurity and would like to know more, please get in touch with Sharon, our Vegelicious Coordinator by emailing sharon.robinson@emergemanchester.co.uk.
“No one wants to have to ask for help, you can see them approaching us, walking really slowly. As they arrive we give them a warm welcome and you can see them relax.”
Shakar
Rainbow Surprise, Crumpsall
Shakar is looking disappointed. He’s just had a phone call from someone asking if he can help with her ironing. Her iron has just broken and she’s due in work in 30 minutes. “If she gave me a couple of hours I could have done something, I just can’t manage it in half an hour,” he says.
This is a typical response from the team at Rainbow Surprise. They just want to help. Started by Shabnam over 14 years ago, the charity has grown and is a welcoming space open to everyone. As well as emergency food provision, a community fridge and pantry, they offer a fresh and healthy meal and a salon. Their beautiful community garden is home to what will become a café or outdoor classroom and provides some of the produce used in their hot meals. Businesses can also donate surplus food to help initiatives like this thrive. We were sent off with a delicious vegetable stir fry containing home grown peas, carrots, kale and spring onions.
On the day of our visit preparation was underway for hot lunches that will be used by the holiday play scheme. Shabnam is keen to include as much fresh fruit for the children as possible and tells us how excited they were to have watermelon recently.
In October, Rainbow Surprise will open their warm hub which will run until February. Volunteer Jane loves her involvement with this project and says many members of the community come for the company as much as the hot meal.
Rainbow Surprise demonstrate empathy from all angles. Shakar and Shabnam both said they put themselves in the shoes of their visitors. “No one wants to have to ask for help, you can see them approaching us, walking really slowly. As they arrive we give them a warm welcome and you can see them relax.”
This is echoed by a beneficiary that we met. After a referral from the Job Centre for emergency support, she now travels from out of the district to Crumpsall to use the community fridge and pantry. “They understood my situation,” she says. “They asked me what facilities I had and what I liked to eat and took me around to find the right food that I could use. They treated me really well. I just came today to say hello and thank you.”
If you’re from a charity or community group supporting those experiencing food insecurity and would like to know more, please get in touch with Sharon, our Vegelicious Coordinator by emailing sharon.robinson@emergemanchester.co.uk.
“FareShare is our main supplier and we wouldn’t be open without them. Because of them I don’t go to bed worrying about being able to afford the food supply.”
Stephen
Bryn Community Shop
Bryn Community Shop, at Ashton-in-Makerfield, is a real family affair and was buzzing when we visited recently. A constant stream of customers were being served by Courtney and her sister Becky, while husband Stephen was out collecting food supplies. As our visit was during the school holidays, their three children were also on hand to help (although the baby preferred a snooze in the back).
The shop operates five days a week and is open to anyone in the local community. Courtney and Becky have loved meeting people and making new friends. Alongside the shop they run children’s holiday activities, provide a Christmas meal and run a Friday night kids club.
Stephen is a local councillor and finds being in the shop means he is clearly visible and easily available to his community. Helping people is really important to them all. They are trying their best to ease the financial burdens that the community is facing and readers can also help by fundraising for FareShare GM.
Bryn Community Shop has recently joined the Vegelicious scheme, part of our projects. Courtney says the customers are amazed by the offer. They are able to select a bag of mixed fruit and veg for just £1 and the produce is drawing people into the shop. They have had great feedback from their customers with one commenting “It’s very good quality, always fresh and definitely good value!”
Stephen says “FareShare is our main supplier and we wouldn’t be open without them. Because of them I don’t go to bed worrying about being able to afford the food supply.”
If you’re from a charity or community group supporting those experiencing food insecurity and would like to know more, please get in touch with Sharon, our Vegelicious Coordinator by emailing sharon.robinson@emergemanchester.co.uk.
Trust House Bury, based in Metro Christian Centre extends a warm welcome to everyone in the local community with most visitors coming from around a mile radius.
The charity started during the pandemic as a food delivery service, but through listening to its visitors, its service has evolved. It runs a daily community café offering tea and toast from 10am and a hot lunch with takeaway option from midday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays the pantry shop is open using a combination of staples purchased from main retailers, a FareShare general food delivery and a FareShare Vegelicious donation of surplus food delivery of 400kg of fruit and veg.
Katie Jenkinson, Centre Manager, says the food is a real hook in drawing people to the centre. Visitors often arrive on their own but soon make friends and attend regularly.
There are three members of staff and around 15 volunteers helping to run the café, pantry and charity shop. Trust House creates a home-from-home living room feel for visitors who can arrive for breakfast and stay for the day enjoying the company of other visitors and volunteers. Alongside this work, the centre offers advice and support on a range of issues such as debt support, benefits claims, family disputes, combatting isolation as well as exercise sessions, mindfulness and craft activities.
The new initiative from FareShare Greater Manchester called Vegelicious means that Trust House has recently started receiving 400kg of fruit and vegetables in addition to its regular order. When it is delivered on a Monday, the team decides the café menu for the week. The highlight this week was a delicious “Vegelicious Meze” which included Melanzana Parmigiana, Asparagus wrapped in bacon and Red Pepper and Feta dip with Pita Bread.
Katie says that FareShare has made a massive difference to their work. While the charity purchases staples that are not always available from FareShare, it has seen a big reduction in its food bill. Before signing up to Vegelicious it was spending around £155 a week on fresh fruit and vegetables which has reduced to £60 for a much larger volume.
The knowledge and encouragement of staff and volunteers about how to use the fresh produce meant that when we visited, practically all of the Vegelicious delivery was distributed with a number of visitors trying new and unfamiliar produce.
If you’re from a charity or community group supporting those experiencing food insecurity and would like to know more, please get in touch with Sharon, our Vegelicious Coordinator by emailing sharon.robinson@emergemanchester.co.uk
Cedar Park Pantry was set up 5 years ago by the Smallshaw-Hurst Children’s Community, Ashton United in the Community and St John the Evangelist Church. Its aim is to support families living in the area who face the challenge of food poverty. The Pantry has around 90 visitors each week, all from the local community and it’s quite an event!
Visitors are warmly welcomed by an army of volunteers who help them select chilled and frozen items and ambient products. There is also a large selection of fruit and veg to choose from too. Cedar Park Pantry has been a member of FareShare for a while and recently signed up to the new Vegelicious project. They receive 400kg of mixed produce which means the volume and selection is considerable.
Alongside the pantry there are a host of activities, developed and led by volunteers from the local community. On pantry day there is ‘Hug in a Mug’ with hot drinks on offer alongside fruit or cake. Lots of people turn up just to be sociable and catch up with their neighbours.
A network of community cooks has been developed, including a junior section. Recipe packs are created to encourage people to cook from scratch and try new things so they can eat healthily and on a budget. The community cooks prepare the recipe for sampling alongside handing out the packs.
‘Friends Round Friday’ is a highlight for older people and the ‘Mum’s Circle of Friendship’ has allowed local mums to meet new friends and find support. There are bingo nights, breakfast clubs, holiday clubs and much more with the highlight of the calendar being Hurstfest in August.
Becky, who helped establish the ‘Mum’s Circle of Friendship’, is really pleased with the increase in fruit and veg available at the pantry. She was part of the community cooks training scheme and is now adding veg to everything – her approach is to “throw everything together and try it!” Becky’s 14 year old and 5 year old love it too and she can afford for them to try different things. Her top tip is to make Cucumber Boats – cut lengths of cucumber, scoop out the seeds and fill with tuna mayo – a real hit in her house. Her next challenge is Kale…
If you’re from a charity or community group supporting those experiencing food insecurity and would like to know more, please get in touch with Sharon at sharon.robinson@emergemanchester.co.uk
The Vegetarian Society, one of our long-standing Community Food Members in Greater Manchester, invited the FareShare GM team to join a hands-on cooking workshop using surplus food. Events like this highlight how our partners turn good-to-eat surplus food into nutritious meals for local communities.
A group of FareShare Greater Manchester team members had a great evening cooking up a storm at the Vegetarian Society recently.
Based in Greater Manchester, the Vegetarian Society is a registered charity that has been running for 175 years. The charity is one of our Community Food Members (CFMs) and has been sourcing good-to-eat surplus food from us to use in its work.
The FareShare Greater Manchester team was invited to join one of their cooking workshops at their new venue in Ancoats. We were split into two teams, designated partners to cook with and set to work creating a great meal. There were two dishes to make, both of them curries, one was Thai and the other one Mauritian.
Maz, the resident chef at the Vegetarian Society was a brilliant teacher. The food was delicious and after all our hard work we were able to sit down and eat together sharing each other’s dishes.
Ruth Downes, Head of Development for FareShare Greater Manchester said:
“We’d like to thank Maz and the Vegetarian Society for inviting us down to the workshop. We all thought it was brilliant, it was a fantastic venue and Maz was a brilliant host and teacher. It was great to learn two new recipes – and we’d recommend it to anyone!”
You can find out more here about the Vegetarian Society.
We’re thrilled to share that we are launching a FareShare Greater Manchester podcast!
Food Stories will take listeners behind the scenes to meet our brilliant staff and our utterly amazing volunteers. We’ll also take you out on deliveries and introduce you to some of our Community Food Members who use our food to serve their communities.
As part of our new podcast launch, we’re excited to share what it is we do. We rescue good-to-eat surplus food from going to waste and redistributing it to hundreds of charities and community groups across our city of Manchester and beyond, as well as sharing the stories of some of those groups who we support.
You can listen to our brand new podcast trailer on the link below or by searching for Food Stories from FareShare Greater Manchester on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and some other podcast apps.
To make sure you don’t miss out on the first episode from the new podcast launch, follow Food Stories on your favourite podcast app and you will automatically get it when it’s published. By subscribing to the podcast, you’ll stay updated on inspiring stories and learn how you can get involved in reducing food waste and supporting communities across Manchester.
Happy listening!