Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC is helping charity partner FareShare continue getting food to those most in need through the pandemic with the donation of three brand new refrigerated delivery vans.
The financial services company, which first partnered with FareShare in 2018, is providing free use of the vans and covering their maintenance costs for the charity over the next four years. The vans have been supplied to FareShare’s East Anglia and Merseyside Regional Centres and are now on the road five days a week, driven by volunteers delivering vital surplus food supplies to those in hardship through the crisis.
The support from Hitachi Capital comes at a time when demand for the charity’s service has never been higher, with the outbreak of Covid-19 seeing FareShare triple the amount of food it redistributes – from 1 million to 3 million meals each week. More than 1,000 new charities and community groups are also receiving regular FareShare deliveries since lockdown measures were introduced in March.
FareShare is the UK’s biggest food redistribution charity and diverts surplus food within the UK supply chain, which would otherwise go to waste, to more than 11,000 frontline charities and community groups across the UK. Projects receiving food include community centres, school breakfast clubs, homeless shelters and domestic violence refuges.
In the two years since Hitachi Capital partnered with FareShare, staff have volunteered more than 868 hours in FareShare’s London, Leeds and Birmingham warehouses, helping sort, pack and deliver food to FareShare’s network of frontline charities and community groups. The company has also made more than £100,000 in financial donations which has increased FareShare’s capacity across its network to accept and redistribute more nutritious surplus food to those who need it most.
Lindsay Boswell, FareShare Chief Executive, said: “Thanks to the vital support of partners like Hitachi Capital, FareShare has been able to massively ramp up the amount of food we get to those most in need through the Covid-19 crisis.
“But as we enter a period of recession, we know the hard work is far from over – which is why the donation of these vans from Hitachi Capital will be so important in the difficult months and years to come. We are grateful for their continued support, especially now at this critical time.
Jon Lawes, Managing Director, Hitachi Capital Vehicle Solutions, said: “We have played a leading role in keeping critical fleets on the move during the pandemic with vehicles delivered to frontline services and companies helping communities most in need across the UK.
“We’re delighted to be able to assist our national charity partner and assist FareShare’s vital work, especially at a time of unprecedented demand from vulnerable people needing vital food supplies from food banks and frontline charities.
“At Hitachi Capital we’re passionate about making a positive difference to society and providing delivery vans to FareShare is another step forward in our partnership as we help them tackle hunger and food waste across the UK.”
About FareShare
FareShare is the UK’s largest food redistribution charity, with 25 warehouses across the country. It takes food from the food industry that can’t be sold in shops, either because of packaging errors, a short shelf life or overproduction. That food, which is the same as the food you’d eat at home, is then redistributed through a network of 11,000 frontline organisations, across the UK such as homeless hostels, school breakfast clubs, domestic violence refuges, older people’s lunch clubs, food banks and hospices. FareShare provides enough food to create almost a million meals for vulnerable people every week.
