Sussex and Surrey to get boost from Coronation Food project

The Coronation Food Project was launched to mark His Majesty The King’s 75th birthday on 14th November.

The project represents a new initiative to save and circulate surplus food and use it for social good and will provide a much-needed boost to charities and people in need across Sussex & Surrey.

The Coronation Food Project, which was inspired by The King, aims to create a fairer and more sustainable future by redistributing more food and supercharging food distribution through centres across the UK.

In Sussex and Surrey, food is redistributed by FareShare Sussex & Surrey, part of a nationwide network operated by FareShare, the UK’s biggest charity using the power of food to bring positive change to people and communities. FareShare Sussex & Surrey serves 153 frontline charities across the region, all of which use food to strengthen communities and help people access vital frontline services.

The Coronation Food Project will help to enhance and scale the infrastructure that gets surplus food to where it is needed most. It is being coordinated by the King Charles III Charitable Fund whose mission is to transform lives and build sustainable communities.

As part of the project, senior figures from the food industry, both major retailers and manufacturers, have joined forces under a new model to save even more waste and generate additional food for the charity sector. Through the Alliance Manufacturing programme, they aim to utilise surplus and donated resources of any kind - food, packaging, labour and capacity - to produce more nutritious food to help people in need.

George Wright, CEO at FareShare said: “We are thrilled to have the Coronation Food Project’s support for FareShare and our work to tackle the environmental damage of food waste and turn it into a social good. The King has long been an environmental leader, and his support for social enterprise projects throughout his life has helped many people. 

I'm also delighted at the incredible support from the retailers and manufacturers who have adopted our new model to tackle waste of all kinds, and they are already generating significantly more food for our charities as a result. 

This will be shared through our national network of over 8,500 charities and community groups across the UK supporting some of the most vulnerable people in society, such as after-school and breakfast clubs, homeless shelters, older people’s lunch clubs, and many more. 

At a time of so much need, we’re proud to be part of this initiative, joining forces with our partners right across the food industry, to get more good-to-eat food to people that need it.”

Dan Slatter, CEO, FareShare Sussex & Surrey commented: "We are delighted to be supported through The Coronation Food Project. It will enable us to access an increased level of food which would otherwise be going to waste. In the last year we have seen particularly low levels of food and an increase in demand from the local charities and community groups we work with. This food is a starting point to help bridge that gap.

“We want to encourage food suppliers, big and small, to get in touch if they are able to help in the same way. Ensuring that this good-to-eat food helps to feed hungry people, rather than heading to waste."

For more information on the Coronation Food Project, please visit: https://www.kccf.org.uk/coronation-food-project/

For more information on FareShare Sussex & Surrey, please visit https://faresharesussexandsurrey.org.uk/

Ends

Editors notes

About FareShare Sussex and Surrey

FareShare Sussex & Surrey rescues surplus food from businesses, supermarkets and farms. This food is nutritious, in-date, and safe and includes a high proportion of fresh vegetables, fruit, meat and fish. If the charity did not rescue this food, it would be at risk of going to waste. Instead, they deliver it to charities, schools, food banks, community pantries and fridges and other organisations serving vulnerable people.

In 2022, the charity delivered food for 2.5 million meals supporting 17,370 people a week at risk of food poverty. Food poverty is a huge and growing problem, and 13.4 million people including 4 million children in the UK live in households that struggle to afford to buy enough fruit, vegetables, fish and other healthy foods.

https://faresharesussexandsurrey.org.uk/

About FareShare 

FareShare is the UK's biggest charity fighting hunger and food waste. We take good-to-eat surplus food from across the food industry, sort it in our regional warehouses across the UK, and pass it onto a network of nearly 8,500 charities and community groups. These include food banks and pantries, hostels, refuges, community centres, older people's lunch clubs, school clubs and hospices. Three quarters of the organisations we provide food to, support children and families. During the last financial year, 2022-23, FareShare redistributed the equivalent of nearly 128 million meals - that's 4 meals every second.