Working together to feed the nation
BARCLAYS HAS PARTNERED WITH THE CHARITY FARESHARE TO SLASH THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE GOING HUNGRY THIS WINTER
FOOD poverty has dramatically increased during the coronavirus pandemic. So Barclays has pledged to help those in desperate need this winter by working with Fareshare, the UK’S largest food redistribution charity.
For every £1 you give to Fareshare through Barclays, it will give double, up to a total of £1million.
Shockingly, as many as one in eight people goes hungry in the UK. That’s a huge 8.4 million people – equivalent to the population of London – who don’t have enough to eat.
Even more alarming is that one in five children grows up in a household where food is scarce, and one in four parents skips meals due to a lack of money.
Those suffering from food poverty are people with low or no income, and with poor access to affordable nutritious food; or a lack of knowledge, skills or equipment to ensure that food is safe and prepared properly. So it’s appalling to learn that one third of food is wasted every year – that’s an astonishing
1.3 billion tonnes.
Fareshare, which has a network of more than
30 warehouses across the UK, takes food that cannot be sold in shops, either because of packaging errors, a short shelf life or overproduction, and redistrib utes it to 11,000 frontline organisations.
The food that Fareshare redistributes is nourishing and fresh. It goes to homeless hostels, school breakfast clubs, domestic violence refuges, older people’s lunch clubs, food banks and hospices.
Ninety per cent of these charities have seen demand reach crisis levels since the pandemic started, and they expect demand to remain high throughout the winter. To help people get through this challenging time, Barclays has launched its £100million Covid-19 Community Aid Package.
Set up to help charities carry out the vital work they do, the bank is pledging £100million to help those affected by the crisis, including low-income families, isolated elderly people and key workers.
As part of the aid package, for every £1 you give to Fareshare, Barclays will give £2 – up to £1million. Fareshare’s experience in food redistribution means it is able to provide up to four meals with every £1 donated. So donating £1 through Barclays will mean 12 meals for people in need.