Charity partnered with Marcus Rashford warns demand for food is set to soar this Christmas
National charity FareShare expects demand to triple as pandemic leaves more people in poverty
National food charity, FareShare, predicts demand for food this Christmas could be triple that of last year as a result of pandemic induced poverty.
The charity, which is supported by footballer Marcus Rashford, redistributes surplus food from the UK’s top food companies to more than 11,000 charities, who then use it to provide meals for vulnerable people across the UK.
Demand has rocketed since initial lockdown measures were introduced in March, with over 1,000 new charities signing up to the service, including community centres, food banks, school breakfast clubs and homeless shelters.
The charity supplies food to 250 charities in Greater Manchester which is used to feed 24,000 people in need across the region.
At the height of the pandemic, the charity was supplying enough food to provide three million meals UK wide, more than triple the amount of food they redistributed prior to the crisis.
Research by FareShare reveals that 77% of the charities they support anticipate the demand for food to match or even surpass these levels during the festive season, citing debt, job losses and poor mental health as the principle factors for the increase in demand compared to this time last year.
A third of these charities said they would not have been able to feed those in need without FareShare’s support during the pandemic.
James Persad, Head of Marketing at FareShare, said: “We know many more people struggled to put food on the table at the height of the crisis earlier this year.
“It looks like charities supporting people in communities hit hardest by coronavirus measures aren’t expecting to see any let up in demand at all.
“Whilst we know that surplus food isn't and shouldn’t be a silver bullet answer to food poverty, what you should know is that whilst 8 million UK citizens go hungry every year, food equivalent to at least 1.3bn meals is thrown away before it even gets to homes or schools.
“That food, if handled as we handle food that is sold, would provide the equivalent of 162 meals per year to all 8 million people currently trapped in food insecurity.
“We want government action to stop this perfectly good food from going to waste, but until then we are calling on the public for financial donations which will help us keep the wheels turning in the face of continued soaring demand this Christmas.”