Cyrenians break target of delivering one million meals

In the past year, the Cyrenians Fareshare depot has redistributed over 450 tonnes of surplus food to charities and community groups across Central and South East Scotland – breaking their target of delivering 1 million meals in their 20^th year.

The Edinburgh-based charity tackle the causes and consequences of homelessness. Food poverty is a key element of a number of their services: as well as operating the FareShare depot for central and south-eastern Scotland, Cyrenians runs cooking courses at their Flavour and Haver Cook School and community cook clubs across Midlothian and Fife.

Food wastage is a huge social and environmental problem – according to Scottish Government figures, in 2013 over 1 million tonnes of food and drink was wasted in Scotland alone.

Meanwhile, recent figures show that almost 1 in 10 people are food insecure, struggling to feed themselves and maintain a healthy diet. The negative impact that juggling the cost of food and housing has on a person’s health and wellbeing cannot be understated; research shows that poverty is a significant contributing factor to homelessness.

Cyrenians Depot Service Manager Lynne Collie said, “When the cost of not having access to health and nutritious food is so high, we must do everything we can to ensure that no one goes without.

“The network of charities and community groups that make use of Fareshare deliveries provide dignified access to food-insecure communities across Central and South East Scotland. By expanding our capacity, we’ve been able to reach more people than ever before in our 20^th year – getting food to those who need it most, and allowing organisations to redirect their savings to other areas of their work

“The food that we receive at our depot is produce that could not be sold by retailers, often due to packaging errors, or a rebrand. Instead of being sent to landfill, this food is then redistributed by dedicated staff and volunteers to over 130 community food members, ranging from community groups to school holiday clubs”

To find out more about Cyrenians Fareshare depot, please visit: https://cyrenians.scot/community-and-food/good-food/fareshare/