Every year from 1-7 June, we embrace Volunteers’ Week, a special occasion where we honour and acknowledge the incredible impact volunteering brings to our organisation.
Recently, FareShare UK conducted a survey across our regional centres and the results were overwhelmingly positive, reflecting the exceptional volunteer experience:
“Despite the cost-of-living crisis and other demands on all of our busy lives, it’s always incredible to see so many people coming together and selflessly giving their time to support others. Those we work with often feed back the positive impact their volunteering has on their wellbeing, their development of new skills, and their social network too.”
Lucy Danger
CEO
Volunteers have been at the heart of EMERGE’s work for more than a quarter of a century. To mark Volunteers’ Week 2023, our CEO Lucy Danger, tells us about the importance of volunteers to our mission.
Find out more here about our volunteering opportunities. By becoming a FareShare volunteer, you can be part of a vibrant and dedicated community working towards a world without food waste and hunger. Whether you have a few hours to spare or are looking for a more long-term commitment, we have diverse volunteering opportunities to suit your interests and availability. Visit our dedicated volunteering page to learn more about how you can get involved and make a tangible impact.
Together, let us celebrate the week by recognising and embracing the incredible contributions of our volunteers. Join us in our mission to create a brighter, more sustainable future for all.
This year EMERGE turns 25. We’re proudly celebrating our 25th anniversary. The EMERGE Group (our full name is East Manchester Environment & Resources Group Emerge) consists of FareShare Greater Manchester, Touch Wood, EMERGE Recycling and Give and Gain. Together we work to improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of local people, first and foremost in Greater Manchester. We do this by promoting the understanding and practice of the real ‘3Rs’ of sustainable resource and waste management – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
Since our humble beginnings, EMERGE has remained steadfast in our commitment to creating a positive and lasting impact. Through collaborative efforts and innovative initiatives, we have played a vital role. We have been shaping a more sustainable future for our region. Our comprehensive approach encompasses not only waste management and recycling. It also addresses social and economic challenges, faced by local communities.
At FareShare Greater Manchester, we tackle food waste and food poverty head-on by redistributing surplus food to those in need. Our dedicated team of volunteers and staff work tirelessly to bridge the gap between food surplus and food insecurity. They are making a significant difference in the lives of vulnerable individuals and families.
Touch Wood, our social enterprise, focuses on reclaiming and repurposing wood waste. By transforming discarded wood into unique, handcrafted furniture and products, we promote sustainability while providing employment and training opportunities for individuals facing barriers to employment.
EMERGE Recycling spearheads our waste management efforts, implementing innovative solutions to maximise resource recovery and minimise landfill waste. Through education and community engagement, we strive to foster a culture of responsible consumption and waste reduction.
Give and Gain, our volunteering program, serves as a catalyst for positive change. By connecting individuals and organisations, we empower volunteers to contribute their time and skills to meaningful projects that address local needs. This collective effort enhances social cohesion, strengthens community bonds, and drives positive social impact.
As EMERGE turns 25 and we commemorate our 25th anniversary, we reflect on the milestones achieved and the countless lives touched through our initiatives. Our journey has been marked by collaborative partnerships, dedicated volunteers and the unwavering support of the Greater Manchester community.
Read more about EMERGE and how we’re celebrating being a quarter of a century old.
At FareShare Greater Manchester, one of our key aims is to tackle the impact of food waste on the environment. Food waste accounts for up to 10% of all global carbon emissions (WWF, 2021). Carbon dioxide produced by food waste is more than four times the amount produced by the world’s entire aviation industry. Through redistributing surplus food, we avoid the waste of 9 times more CO2e than is emitted by our operations. To learn more about our impact, you can access our annual reports.
Whilst our operations are already highly efficient, we are always seeking ways to further reduce our carbon footprint and protect the environment. In 2021, we moved into our new depot at Maynard House, which has a number of green credentials. We have onsite solar panels and an EV charging point on our car park. Our ability to generate our own electricity means that some days our building is almost carbon neutral! We are now fundraising to rent an electric van, which we will charge using the free electricity generated by our solar panels. The van will reduce the carbon emissions from our food collections and deliveries. It will also reduce the amount that we need to spend on fuel.
Our fundraising target is £5000, which will fund the rental of an electric vehicle for 6 months. To help us achieve this, we are taking part in The Green Match Fund. From 20th– 27th April, every £1 donated to our cause will be ‘matched’ by Big Give, effectively doubling each donation.
If you have been thinking of supporting FareShare Greater Manchester’s mission, now is the perfect time to do so, as your donation will be worth twice as much to us.
Donations made to our project will be doubled during the campaign. If you would like to support our work this year, we highly recommend doing so during the Green Match Fund. Your donation will be doubled and make even more of a difference to us. Find out more about how match funding works.
Please note the donate button will appear on the campaign page when the Green Match Fund launches.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact Emily at emily@emergemanchester.co.uk.
Finally, please pass on this message to anyone you think might be interested in supporting us and having their donation doubled.
In 2020, we established our FareShare Plus model. For the past 3 years, we have distributed ‘surplus surplus’ food from our main depot, Maynard House, via a small warehouse just across the road. The aim of this model is to significantly reduce the amount of food that we waste as part of our operation, and importantly, it helps us to get more food to those that need it most.
The model works using a booking system that allows two charities to visit the warehouse every thirty minutes. Once on site, charity members are able to browse the warehouse and can choose from the range of surplus food available. Items are charged by weight and we offer deals such as ‘buy-1-get-1-free’ to ensure waste is minimised.
The model has allowed us to build closer relationships with the charities that we work with, as they visit us face-to-face frequently (e.g. weekly or fortnightly). It has also helped us to further understand the needs of the charities, and how we can work together to address these needs.
Since its opening, the team have distributed 1600 tonnes of food, the equivalent of 3.81 million meals, to 135 frontline charities and community groups.
Now, FareShare Plus have moved into their new premises, slightly closer to our main depot, into F Block on New Smithfield Market. The new warehouse has extra storage space for increased freezer capacity, which will allow us to serve even more local charities.
Karina Tiplady, FareShare Plus Warehouse Coordinator, describes the model as ‘surplus surplus with a smile’ and says she loves meeting the charities when they visit to collect their food.
I’ve been working with FareShare since 2020, initially through Covid, where we had the food delivered to us on behalf of various different Charities I’ve supported and the door to door service was exceptional. For the last two years it’s more convenient for me to collect the food from FareShare Plus and again everyone I’ve been involved with has provided an outstanding service and they always go the extra mile to meet my requirements. It’s a tall order to be able to get all the ingredients to make healthy nutritional meals and every week I’m amazed that I’m able to achieve that, only possible with the wonderful staff who take so much interest in the work I do and make it possible.
It makes such a huge difference to so many to receive, perhaps, their only hot meal of the day, and it’s only possible due to the wonderful work of FareShare and their amazing staff.
Kala from Tameside Meals Project
FareShare Plus charity partner
In 2022 we redistributed 1981 tonnes of surplus food to 280 frontline charities and community groups. All of us at FareShare Greater Manchester would like to say thank you. We send our thanks to everyone who has supported us during the past twelve months. Whether you have volunteered for us, donated to our fundraising campaigns or donated surplus food- you are making a valuable impact on the lives of people living in poverty across Greater Manchester.
2022 was a year of challenges. More people than ever are relying on the vital work of the charities that we support. Despite this, we have managed to develop and grow and are proud to celebrate our successes during this difficult period.
See below for our highlights of the year!
At the start of the year we finally moved into our new building, Maynard House. Maynard House is named after Marcus Rashford’s mum, Melanie Maynard.
The depot was named after Melanie in recognition of parents who work tirelessly to provide for their children in difficult circumstances.
The new building provides a far more comfortable setting for our staff and volunteers, whilst the new warehouse provides a much needed increase in capacity. As such, this enables us to provide more food than ever to those in need.
In summer this year we participated in the Green Employment and Skills Programme, run by One Manchester. By taking part in the programme we were able to create nine temporary paid warehouse positions, and two social media assistant positions. The programme was designed to help people in Greater Manchester develop skills and experience in the green economy.
In September, we celebrated the third annual FareShare Volunteer Awards with an afternoon tea. Our wonderful volunteer Debbie took home the Rising Star award. Also, Liz was highly commended for her work as Volunteer Manager.
Winners across the country were provided with awards made by the team at our allied social enterprise Touch Wood. They specialise in making items from reclaimed wood.
Congratulations again to all of the winners from across the UK, and thank you to all of our volunteers who selflessly show up and work hard every week.
On 22nd October we hosted the wonderful Diwali Basket Brigade, a community initiative that provides food hampers to vulnerable households. This year, the Manchester branch of the project managed to fund 500 of their ‘Diwali Baskets’. Each basket was filled by volunteers with a range of good quality, long-life food items. Some of the baskets were kindly donated to FareShare Greater Manchester for us to distribute amongst the charities and community groups that we support.
In June and December, we participated in the tenth biannual Tesco Food Collection, encouraging shoppers to donate long-life items. We’re so grateful to everyone who generously donated their time or food to the campaign. Your support means so much. The donations helped us to supplement our donations from the food industry with the items that are most badly-needed.
To finish off the year, we launched our new Slow Cooker Project. The project is our response to the ongoing cost of living crisis. It aims to help families across Greater Manchester cook healthier meals at a low-cost. You can find out more about the slow cooker project here.
Rising energy costs are making it difficult for people across Greater Manchester to cook nutritious meals. In response, FareShare Greater Manchester has launched a new project to provide slow cookers to 1,000 people in need.
Slow cookers are a more energy-efficient way to cook than a standard oven, and they can be used to prepare large batches of food that can be eaten that day or frozen for later. The project also includes training sessions on how to use slow cookers and how to prepare healthy meals.
The aim of the project is to help people save money on their energy bills, eat healthier meals, and build confidence in their cooking skills.
We know that people across Greater Manchester have been struggling more than ever with rising energy costs, making cooking nutritious meals difficult.The slow cooker offers an economical, fuss-free way to cook healthier meals. Slow cookers are more energy efficient to run than a standard oven, costing between 4.08p and 10.2p per hour to run, in comparison, a typical electric oven costs around £1 per hour. Food can be prepared in large batches that can be eaten that day or frozen for a later date.
We are working with 18 charities from across Greater Manchester. These charities will distribute 1000 slow cookers across their members. Some of these individuals will have previous experience of using a slow cooker. For others it will be a completely new way of cooking.
Our partner charities have attended a ‘Teach the Teacher’ event at Manchester United. They have been taught several low-cost and healthy slow cooker recipes by the football club’s chefs. They were also given a tour of the stadium. Next, the charities will conduct their own training sessions with individuals who use their services and issue slow cookers for them to use at home. Participants will be provided with recipe cards that use ingredients we commonly receive at FareShare Greater Manchester.
A Facebook group has also been set up so that participants can share their experiences, and provide support to one another. This will also be used as a tool to see how they are getting along and to gather feedback.
“We now feel equipped to teach our community about the benefits of using slow cookers. We were surprised to realise how much less energy they use and how they can encourage our families to eat healthily.”
Rachel
Cherry Tree Project in Stockport
What happens next?
As part of the initiative, if the slow cooker has been useful to the participants- it’s theirs to keep! The aim is to help build confidence for those who may not have much experience of cooking at home. Additionally, to make it an enjoyable experience.
We will be sharing some recipes both online and in our monthly newsletter- you can sign up here.
A survey carried out by FareShare UK in September/October 2022 has demonstrated the impact that the Cost of Living Crisis is having on the charities and community groups that we support.
The rise in the cost of living is at the forefront of many of our minds. Key issues such as the economic impacts of Brexit, Covid-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine are being felt in ordinary households up and down the country.
The overall budget for supermarket food items has soared by 17% according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), with some staple items such as pasta rising as much as 60% by the end of September. The figures are worrying, especially as we enter the winter months. Despite the Government’s Energy Price Guarantee, ‘heating or eating’ has become a real dilemma for millions of people.
During September 21-23rd, The Food Foundation conducted a survey of 4280 adults. The results revealed that 18.4% of households had experienced food insecurity in the previous month. The risk of facing food insecurity increases further in households with children, with one in four households with children stating that they had ‘been hungry but not eaten’, ‘had smaller meals/ skipped meals’ or ‘not eaten for a whole day’ during this time period.
The current crisis is also having a profound impact on charities, as they also face the rising costs in energy, utility bills and food. This is reflected in a recent survey of the charities serviced by FareShare partners nationwide.
See a summary of the results here
At FareShare Greater Manchester we are working hard to ensure that we can provide sufficient support to our community food members. Demand for food is at an all-time high and we need your support to help us to continue the work that we do.
A comment from Lucy Danger, FareShare Greater Manchester CEO:
“The cost of living crisis has seen inflation rise to a 40-year-high, pushing millions of people into food poverty and drastically increasing demand for our surplus food. The recent results from the FareShare survey demonstrate the severity of the situation. The charities we support are worried that the situation is going to get worse and they may not be able to meet the extra demand. If you can afford to donate to FareShare’s Cost of Living Crisis Appeal, you will be helping to get more good-to-eat surplus food to people in need across the UK.”
Links:
https://www.foodfoundation.org.uk/initiatives/food-insecurity-tracking
As we approach a year since the first COVID-19 lockdown began, we want to share the story of one of our favourite memories from the past 12 months. Last year, ten-year-old Caleb Waterhouse wrote an inspiring letter to us, offering to volunteer and raise money by donating football boots for his hero, Marcus Rashford, to sign.
Marcus found it so impressive that he promised to return the signed boots to Caleb as a birthday present and personally donate the money Caleb raises.
Caleb has since raised over £1,000 for FareShare GM. In December he came to visit us for a tour of our new warehouse, where we presented him with a very special parcel.
On 21st December 2020, I visited FareShare in Greater Manchester with my Mum. On arrival, Miranda, FareShare’s Head of Development, met us.
Miranda had been speaking to my Mum to arrange my visit after she read my letter. It feels like a bit of luck falls on you if you’re able to visit FareShare. That’s because normally, they deny children access into New Smithfield Market, where it is based. Also, some very famous people have done the same visit that I have, like Marcus Rashford and his Mum, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge (William and Kate) and Dennis Irwin.
Exploring FareShare GM has made me realise how many people need help so they don’t go hungry and how hardworking and kind the staff and volunteers are who make sure they help as many families as possible.
Firstly, Miranda introduced me to Mac, who is one of the drivers. He distributes food from the warehouse out to the charities that FareShare works with so the food can get to the people who need it. He even let me sit in the van!
Miranda introduced me to the Operations Manager, Derek. Basically, Derek and the team split the warehouse into foods that can be:
The team organise lists so the staff and volunteers know which foods to distribute. In short, they need to make sure the right things go to the right charity and community partners. It is important to do these lists so that the food gets to the people who need it. Derek told me that some people don’t have ovens to cook. As a result, they need to receive food that can be made with just a kettle, like pot noodles.
The existing warehouse is split into two parts. The other side is a room which is a fridge. It looks really big compared to the fridge I have at home, too. But it is full to the brim because so many people rely on FareShare to provide food for them.
The staff need to work really quickly to get food out so there is space for the next delivery. The racks in the warehouse are stacked up to the roof because there isn’t a lot of space in comparison to the amount of food that they handle.
Exploring FareShare GM has made me realise how many people need help so they don’t go hungry and how hardworking and kind the staff and volunteers are who make sure they help as many families as possible
Derek told me that the food they deliver to FareShare is all donations. They receive food from places like Tesco, Asda and even the Ministry of Defence! The MOD parcels were pre-pack meals that soldiers would take out on exercise with them so they sound quite interesting. It’s amazing and surprising to think about the food they deliver: I even had a look at some Domino’s pizza toppings!
Next Miranda took us over to see the new warehouse, Melanie Maynard House. The new warehouse is a lot bigger than the existing one and it has two fridges; one for foods coming in and the other for foods going out. This will help the staff because they will have more space to work in. It also has a freezer room so frozen foods can be stored. This is a great benefit because FareShare have to work really fast to make sure the food gets to the families that need it before it goes out of date.
Derek said that they try to tackle food waste but also make sure that all their operations are as sustainable as possible as they are run by EMERGE 3Rs and their charity objective is to minimise all waste.
The demand for food has increased significantly since the pandemic began. Accordingly, FareShare expects that it will increase even more in 2021 because lots of people have lost their jobs. Before the pandemic, they were supporting 600,000 families in the Manchester area and now even more people need their help. When the new warehouse is complete, FareShare GM will have the capacity to distribute 7 million meals out!
I think that all the people who help out at FareShare are heroes. Because they are helping to save lives by stopping starvation.
Outside the warehouse, I met some of the staff. A lot of these people volunteer, like Karina who is a Manchester United fan just like me. The volunteers go on a rota to help distribute food as often as they can. I think that all the people who help out at FareShare are heroes. Because they are helping to save lives by stopping starvation.
My favourite player, Marcus Rashford, has been helping to raise awareness for FareShare and to tackle food poverty. That’s how I heard about the fantastic work that they do. And it makes me want to help.
My original idea was to raise money by donating some football boots. But Marcus offered to return them to me signed by him. This was a really nice surprise when I got to FareShare, and he actually sent me a signed pair of his own boots.
I am really grateful that Marcus sent me a pair of his own boots and that FareShare GM let me do the visit that the famous people have done. To say thank you I am trying to help raise money and awareness just like my hero Marcus Rashford.
Even though Marcus offered to donate the money I would have raised from raffling my boots, I wanted to raise as much money as I could, so I asked people if they would sponsor my FareShare visit.
So far I have managed to raise £1,100 towards their new warehouse (I’m not sure how much more Marcus donated for me). They need another £200,000 to complete the warehouse. To help them get towards this total I have a few ideas to try raise some more money if I can and I hope that telling people about my visit will inspire other people to raise money to get the warehouse up and running as soon as possible.
Finally, I want to thank all the people at FareShare for letting me visit, especially Miranda who organised it for me. I hope I can go back to see the new warehouse when it’s complete.
Salford company AJ Bell and the Sharks Community Trust, the charitable arm of Sale Sharks rugby club, have joined forces to distribute food hampers to local families with school-age children ahead of the Easter holidays, some of which will be provided by FareShare GM.
The ‘AJ Bell Easter Eats’ initiative will give families a helping hand over the Easter period. Moreover, food hampers contain a mixture of fresh, long-life produce, plus a holiday activity pack from the mental health charity Place2Be. They will also distribute Easter eggs via local schools as part of the project.
Easter Eats is the latest initiative by AJ Bell’s ‘Wage War on COVID’ fund. This fund is in place to support people facing direct impact as a result of the crisis. Wage War on COVID raises over £380,000 through donations from AJ Bell staff, customers, financial advisers and the general public.
The fund initially donated £30,000 to local food charities at the outset of the pandemic. That includes a £15,000 grant to FareShare GM.
Families with school age children have been amongst the hardest hit by the COVID pandemic. They have had to get to grips with home schooling whilst many of them have seen their incomes reduce or disappear completely. The AJ Bell Easter Eats initiative is designed to give these families a helping hand in the run up to the Easter holidays, after which they can hopefully look forward to further easing of lockdown restrictions and life returning to some level of normality.
Andy Bell
Chief Executive of AJ Bell
AJ Bell also donated over 600 digital tablets to care homes and hospitals around the UK. All in order to help residents stay in touch with loved ones during lockdown. Not to mention a further 140 to OnSide Youth Zones to:
Meanwhile, Sale Sharks – who play at the AJ Bell Stadium in Salford – are also hard at work, especially during the pandemic to support vulnerable people in Manchester.
In December, the club launched a campaign to support homeless charity CentrePoint. Centre Point came to be by a chance meeting between winger Marland Yarde and a young homeless man. Marland himself also:
The club, and the Trust, are committed to supporting the communities that we live and work in, and this project with AJ Bell is a perfect way to do that, at a time when many families need extra help. It has been such a challenging time for so many people and this year, more than ever, it’s so important that we do our bit to help.
Alison Warwood
Executive Director of the Sharks Community Trust
AJ Bell and the Sharks Community Trust are now working with local schools in and around Salford to identify families that could benefit from the Easter Eats initiative.
Demand for food has never been higher in the communities we serve and, thanks to the support of partners such as AJ Bell and Sharks Community Trust, we have doubled the amount of food we distribute each week in response to the crisis. Unfortunately the reality is that the hard work is far from over – 90% of the charities we serve say demand will either remain the same as crisis levels or increase – so we welcome AJ Bell’s continued efforts to help FareShare and other charities get good food onto the people who need it most.
Miranda Kaunang
Head of Development at FareShare GM
In 2020, we’ve provided 5.5 million meal portions to tens of thousands of people across Greater Manchester. This wouldn’t have been possible without the inspiring work of Marcus Rashford and his mum, Melanie.
Marcus has been instrumental this year in helping the whole FareShare Network to raise millions. All in order to provide meals for children and families who might not otherwise eat during the COVID-19 crisis.
In October, he brought his mum Melanie Rashford to visit our new warehouse, which will be named Maynard House in recognition of her and other parents like her who work tirelessly to provide for their children in difficult circumstances.
Marcus’ and Melanie’s inspiring story has been documented in the BBC’s new documentary, Marcus Rashford: Feeding Britain’s Children.
Reliance on FareShare GM food has reached unprecedented levels during the pandemic. Between 50,000 and 60,000 people and some 230 frontline charities currently depend on FareShare GM each week.
We’re grateful to Marcus and his national campaign to raise awareness of child food poverty. We’ve delivered more than 2,300 tonnes to people in need across Greater Manchester since the outbreak of COVID-19 in March.
However, our work is far from over. Even before the pandemic began, there were already 620,000 people struggling in Greater Manchester and extreme poverty was rapidly growing in the UK. More than a million households and half a million children experienced destitution at some point in 2019. The North West in particular is struggling.
Maynard House will significantly improve our capacity, allowing us to provide over 7 million meals a year to those in need. Even though the building has a new name and a plaque waiting to go on the wall, there’s more to do. Building work is ongoing, with funding from our capital appeal.
This year has been like no other, with more families stretched to the brink than ever before. It’s thanks to people like Marcus Rashford, his family, and all our fantastic supporters, volunteers and frontline charities that we’ve been able to provide so many meals for people in need. But the need isn’t going to go away in 2021 – if anything it will get greater. That’s why our new building is so important and even though FareShare’s got Marcus Rashford on the team, we still need everyone’s support to get the ball over the line.
Miranda Kaunang
Head of Development at FareShare GM