14 November 2024
On November 14, His Majesty The King officially launched FareShare Merseyside's new Coronation Food Hub in Knowsley. He participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony via video link from a second Coronation Food Hub opened simultaneously in London. This celebration marks an important milestone in the effort to provide surplus food to communities in need across the region.
“It’s a real pleasure to welcome everyone here today to launch the Coronation Food Hub in Merseyside officially.
“We know that opening a larger site with greater capacity will make a huge difference, and we’re enormously grateful to all our partners, especially the Steve Morgan Foundation, who have helped bring this project to fruition.
“This new Coronation Food Hub will be instrumental in getting food that might otherwise have gone to waste to more communities more efficiently. This will be transformative for surplus food in Merseyside and beyond, making a huge difference to our capacity for redistributing food to organisations which are providing essential support services and strengthening their communities.”
Kris Gibbon-Walsh, CEO of FareShare
The new, expanded site will enable FareShare’s operations to provide more surplus food that would otherwise go to waste to local communities and people in need across the region. The opening of the new hub has been made possible thanks to generous donations from the Steve Morgan Foundation and other supporters.
Over 100 local supporters of the project, including key partners, members of the food industry, and charities that receive food from FareShare, attended the event. The Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, Mark Blundell, cut the ribbon on the new building.
The event commemorates one year since the launch of the Coronation Food Project and the 76th birthday of His Majesty. Inspired by His Majesty King Charles III, the project aims to bridge the gap between food insecurity and food waste.
In the Coronation Food Project’s first year, 940 tonnes of additional surplus food has been rescued, with 1,900 tonnes more donated; £715,000 has been circulated in community food grants; and £15m has been raised to officially open the first two Coronation Food Hubs in Merseyside and South London.
One year ago, senior leaders from the UK food industry signed a historic pledge supporting the Coronation Food Project. Since then, the industry has mobilised around a pioneering initiative to create a sustainable, systemic approach to surplus food redistribution across the UK food sector, generating millions more meals for people in need. Since its launch, the Coronation Food Project, with the support of its food industry partners, has delivered nearly 7 million meals to communities across the UK via the FareShare network.
FareShare Merseyside has been operating for nearly 15 years and is the region’s largest food redistribution charity. It works with the wider FareShare network and the food industry to take good-to-eat surplus food – which might otherwise go to waste – and deliver it to over 260 local charities and community groups. Serving an area that includes not only Merseyside but parts of North Wales, in the last year, the team distributed over 2.7 million meals.
The new site will allow the team, which is largely made up of volunteers, to distribute a wider variety of food, including fresh produce, frozen and chilled items, and ambient food, via regular deliveries across the region. Alongside increased capacity, the move will see improved resources, including kitchens on site and greater efficiency in terms of receiving and distributing food, all helping to reach more communities in need.
The new Merseyside hub also aligns with FareShare’s commitment to environmental responsibility, achieving an impressive A energy efficiency rating. This sustainable design minimises resource waste and allows the hub to operate with a reduced carbon footprint, which supports FareShare’s goal of reducing food waste and contributing positively to the environment.
The launch event offered an opportunity to thank other important partners and funders such as Cargill, General Mills and the Albert Gubay Foundation, whose generous support over previous years has made the move to the new site possible.
For more information on FareShare Merseyside, including volunteering, becoming a supplier, or signing up to receive food, please contact: fsmerseyside@fareshare.org.uk
For more information on FareShare visit www.fareshare.org.uk
