Reclaiming Food To Feed The Homeless Of Chester
The ShareShop in Chester has joined forces with an Ellesmere Port charity to help meet rising demand for its day centre services, reports Cheshire Live.
Two charities have joined forces to divert food from landfill to help meet a huge rise in demand for food for homeless people. The Share charity in Chester is working alongside The Port Grocery in Ellesmere Port to collect food that supermarkets would otherwise send to landfill. This much-needed food will help Share to feed the increasing number of homeless people using its day centre in Chester.
The charity said it had seen a doubling in demand for its services over the past three months alone. Share’s co-founder and chair, Adam Dandy, said that in the last quarter, Share’s Day Centre had already served more than 3,000 meals to people who are homeless in Cheshire West and Chester. This works out at an average of 12,000 meals per year and a staggering 120 per cent increase in visits, with 512 visits in April, rising to 876 in May all the way up to 1,129 in June.
The Share charity will be working alongside The Port Grocery to rescue food that is nearing its best before date from supermarkets. This food, which would otherwise have gone to landfill, will feed up to 50 people for five days a week at the Share day centre for people experiencing homeless in Chester.
Welcoming the partnership, Share’s charity manager, Viv Devlin said: “We are thrilled to work with The Port Grocery on this new initiative. This partnership will enable us to provide even more support to those in need within our local community here in Chester.” Rita Lewis, founder of The Port Grocery, said: “It’s heartwarming to collaborate with Share and make a real impact in our local area. Together, we can make a difference in fighting food waste and hunger.”
Adam Dandy also welcomed the partnership, saying: “I am so pleased that this new collaboration between ourselves and The Port Grocery will both reduce food waste but more importantly, provide delicious hot meals for people who are really struggling in our local community. This is a win-win for everyone involved and I would like to thank Rita and her incredible team for their support.”
He added: “Rita is an inspiration and what she has created over in Ellesmere Port is unbelievable, diverting thousands of tonnes each year from going to waste and delivering that food instead in boxes to her 300 members each week. Since we opened our first ShareShop opposite Storyhouse back on January 16, 2016, Rita has helped us on an ad hoc basis, but this collaboration will be a game changer for what we are able to provide as a charity going forward.”
The Port Grocery was founded by Rita Lewis in 2016, initially starting out as a six-week project. Based out of Trinity Church in Ellesmere Port, it aims to tackle issues of food poverty and food waste by providing affordable food options for people.
