Food waste charity gets grant for rising costs
The charity received a £60,000 grant, over three years, from Shrewsbury Town Council.
**Food waste charity receives grant to help with rising costs**
Volunteers at the charity never know in advance how much will arrive for a foodshare.
A charity working to address food waste has been awarded a funding grant by the council.
Shrewsbury Food Hub gathers surplus food from supermarkets, manufacturers and farms, then distributes it to 90 community groups and 13 weekly food shares.
Earlier this month, it was announced that the charity had been given a £60,000 grant over three years from Shrewsbury Town Council.
The charity’s fundraiser, Cherry Teearu, said: “It is a lot of money. It sounds fantastic and we are so so grateful.”
She added: “It will go a long way to helping us to continue [to cover our extra] costs that we have got. With the cost of living crisis all of our costs are going up.”
Teearu said the organisation has to spend thousands on fuel for its vans and depot, as well as staff costs, with annual spending reaching nearly £500,000.
Shrewsbury Food Hub began in 2016, after a local homeless charity got in touch with its co-founders because it had been offered surplus food by a supermarket, but did not have volunteers to collect it.
The group says that in the past year alone it has rescued 272 tonnes of food from being thrown away – enough for more than 649,000 meals.
Community engagement officer and head of logistics John Hughes is often responsible for the deliveries.
“It operates seven days a week, all year round, bar Christmas Day, and so its a seven day a week operation,” he said.
“We start early doors and then work right the way through. Then at the end of the day we are preparing for the next day ahead.
He added: “We have a lot of overheads, all of that costs money just to keep the wheels turning before we do anything, so this grant is hugely important to us and just gives us sort of hope and sustainability [to keep] going forward.”
Self-described conservationist Peter Hampton said he goes to the Food Hub to help the environment and stretch his budget.
“I brought my grandchildren along and they were gobsmacked that food was going to waste,” he said.
“They ended up going back to their junior school and told the teacher, and the teacher did a lesson on it.
“When you realise how much is being saved and how much it helps the community in different parts of the community, be it mothers and toddlers groups, schools, people on lower incomes, its great.”