Food services and facilities management company, Sodexo, has reached a £1.5m funding milestone with food redistribution charity FareShare.
The partnership between the two organisations was established in 2005 and aims to redistribute surplus food across FareShare’s charity network, helping to redistribute the equivalent of five million meals to those in need.
Sodexo’s financial support covers much of the logistics costs, but it also committed its staff to volunteering hours at FareShare and its partners’ depots across the UK, from Edinburgh, Newcastle, Liverpool andLeeds in the north, to Birmingham, London and right down to Brighton in the south, with their efforts resulting in the equivalent of 25,754 meals being redistributed to those in need.
Patrick Forbes, head of supply management at Sodexo UK & Ireland, trustee of the Sodexo Stop Hunger Foundation, said: “As a purpose-led business with a large operational footprint we are committed to doing all we can to support and have a positive impact on the communities in which we live and work.”
“Since our partnership with FareShare began back in 2005 we have been proud to have helped it to expand its reach across the UK to more communities in desperate need of help through our financial support, employee volunteering and other initiatives such as providing coaching for their team members to help with their own personal development.”
Lindsay Boswell, CEO, FareShare, said: “We are extremely grateful to everyone at Sodexo for their support in reaching this incredible fundraising milestone and to their staff for giving up their time to volunteer for us at a time when the demand for food has never been higher.
“The money raised will make a huge difference in getting good-to-eat surplus food to people who need it most and help support the essential work of 8,500 charities across the UK.”
