Official Opening of Food Redistribution Charity’s New Depot

Published on: 15 Jul, 2024
Updated on: 15 Jul, 2024

Food redistribution charity FareShare Sussex & Surrey has officially opened its depot in Guildford, at the Midleton Enterprise Park.

It will enable the charity to receive more surplus food, which would otherwise go to waste, and redistribute it to people in need across Surrey.

Pictured at the launch, from left: FareShare’s Guildford operations and warehouse manager, Anand Darshan; FareShare trustee Suzie Maine; the chief executive officer of FareShare Sussex & Surrey, Dan Slatter; the chairman of FareShare Sussex & Surrey, Jonathan Wilkins; the Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey, Michael More-Molyneux; the Mayor of Guildford, Sallie Barker; the the chief executive officer of FareShare, George Wright; senior warehouse manager, Steve Moore. Picture by Daniel Swires-Hennessy.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony took place on July 10 attended by the Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey, Michael More-Molyneux; the Mayor of Guildford, Sallie Barker; alongside stakeholders and food suppliers in the FareShare network.

FareShare says: “Growing from its humble Brighton roots back in 2002, the opening of the second site in Guildford marks a significant expansion of capabilities.”

The charity serves 17 organisations in Surrey, helping around 7,500 people a week. By the end of 2025, thanks to the new depot, it plans to be serving up to 60 charities and community groups in the county.

The Lord-Lieutenant of Surrey, Michael More-Molyneux; the Mayor of Guildford, Sallie Barker; and the chief executive officer of FareShare Sussex & Surrey, Dan Slatter. Picture by Daniel Swires-Hennessy.

Plans for employability schemes are also under way as FareShare Sussex & Surrey aims to train 30 people a year who are struggling to find jobs, building skills for the workplace.

As the availability of frozen surplus food is on the rise, FareShare Sussex & Surrey is taking advantage of this by launching a frozen membership, aided by the new freezer and frozen van in Surrey.

It says this will be a more cost-effective membership, estimated to save charities and community groups an average of £18,000 per year.

FareShare Sussex & Surrey is also offering charities and community groups support to purchase freezers, to help them store more frozen surplus food.

The Guildford depot began operations in early May, and existing partners across Sussex and Surrey have already been receiving deliveries, with aims to provide 30 new charities with ambient/chilled supplies, as well as 30 frozen memberships.

The charity adds that this expansion is incredibly important in bringing people together in order to ease the food insecurity prevalent in Surrey.

With high rent and relentless inflation, the social inequality in the area has only been increasing, creating overlooked areas of deprivation that must be addressed.

The chief executive officer for FareShare Sussex & Surrey, Dan Slatter said: “Thanks to the donation of £100,000 from Surrey County Council, we have been able to fit out the new warehouse with a large freezer and chiller, which greatly increases our capacity to get food to those in need.”

For more information, including online donation and more details on volunteering opportunities, visit https://faresharesussexandsurrey.org.uk/.