A pledge of £890,000 has been made to the Coronation Food Project to help bridge the gap between food waste and food poverty across Merseyside and North Wales.
Cash from The Steve Morgan Foundation – a grant-giving charity – will go directly to the new Coronation Food Hub in Liverpool operated by the FareShare food redistribution charity. It will fund half the running costs of the hub for three years.
The money, along with donations, will be used to double the existing warehouse capacity in Speke and to develop a training kitchen which will also allow FareShare to make the most of donated fresh ingredients and help to deliver ‘ready meals’ where needed.
Three new members of staff will join the scheme and purchase five additional vans will also be purchased.
With 140 community groups on the waiting list for surplus food, the funding will also help FareShare to begin providing food to two new groups per week and provide additional support directly to those in need.
George Wright, CEO of FareShare said: “We are enormously grateful to the Steve Morgan Foundation for such a generous contribution. Since its launch in November, the Coronation Food Project has brought together partners from across the food industry and beyond, to collaborate on new ways to address food insecurity and reduce food waste.
“The support the project has received to date has been incredible, with this landmark project already generating significantly more food for the 8,500 charities within our network, delivering millions more meals.”
“This launch of the first Coronation Food Hub will not only help us reach more charities and community groups, from afterschool and breakfast clubs to hospices and homelessness charities, but allow us to deliver additional benefits to support people in need.”
Established in 2001 by businessman Steve Morgan CBE, the Steve Morgan Foundation works with national, regional and local charities to change lives for good by targeting the root causes of poverty and deprivation.
Steve said: “We recognise that collaborations such as these between funders, delivery partners and community groups are essential to not only improving food distribution but to tackling the root causes of poverty and deprivation.
“Getting surplus food to hungry people is not easy and, despite best intentions, does not
always work on the ground. Having grown up in the area, I know first-hand the challenges
faced by families in our region. We are looking forward to working closely with FareShare to bring this powerful partnership to life and tackle the very real and daunting need in our communities.”
The Coronation Food Project, inspired by The King, aims to create a fairer and more sustainable future by saving more surplus food, supercharging food distribution through distribution centres, and supporting the wider sector with flexible funding.
