Food banks, pantries, lunch clubs, hospices and more rely on the efforts of volunteers who keep food flowing in and out of a busy warehouse at Preston.
Food redistribution centre, FareShare, operated by Recycling Lives Charity, invited Blog Preston in to learn about the process and management of donated food.
Part of the national network of FareShare, their Red Scar distribution centre currently operates with a team of 50 – predominantly volunteers.
Read more: How 200 people are fed from a soup kitchen each Wednesday in the city
The centre, in Preston, mostly receives donations and food from supermarkets, wholesalers, and distributors.
This donated food can include short-dated stock, or surplus stock more than a hospitality business’s capacity such as a restaurant or a café.
With ten employees at the site, eight of them progressed from the time they spent as volunteers to into a paid career.
Katie Upton, marketing manager for Recycling Lives Charity told Blog Preston how all the employees and volunteers come from “different walks of life.”
With this job being described as a real “leveller,” she mentioned people such as retirees, students and people who have rehabilitated after serving prison sentences come together to serve the wider community this way.
One volunteer is delivery driver, Mark who has been working at FareShare for nearly three years.
His job role includes collecting food from various shops which customers have donated after purchasing their shop.
He said: “I wanted to come here because I wanted to give something back after I retired just over three years ago.
“I don’t need a part-time job, but I wanted to do something and give back to the community.”
Despite receiving funding from community groups buying trays of food from the hub to make meals for those in need, the price per tray is small and the charity is always seeing additional help.
With around 150 organisations relying on the Red Scar hub’s weekly stock, around 20,000 people a week are fed due to this scheme.
Volunteer Jimmy, 43, helps make sure all boxes are allocated to the correct organisations.
He shared his story of his six year volunteering journey mentioning his motivation for starting his volunteering journey at FareShare at the Red Scar site.
Jimmy said: “I have epilepsy and so I can’t hold down a job, but I didn’t want to just be sat at home.
“It gets me out of the house, gives me some headspace and I enjoy it.
“I like it as people remember your name, and you build up that connection.”
In recent years, an employee from the organisation said they have: “noticed an increase in demand and a decrease in supply.”
To help this, they have invested in their wagon to make collections more frequent and consistent.
Twice a year, the volunteer team goes to supermarkets for the Fareshare Food Drive, collecting directly from customers and packing bags. This takes place each summer and just before Christmas.
Manager, Laura Hodson, spoke about the importance of volunteers especially in this organisation during National Volunteering Week.
She said: “We are absolutely nothing without our volunteers.
“If you have any time spare come and help, even if it’s just a couple of hours, any time we really do appreciate.”
To donate or learn more about volunteering visit the FareShare website or the Recycling Lives Charity website.
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