CAMERON’S STORY

Cameron joined our community cookery classes at the Youth Employment Hub in Brighton in August 2021. He had been out of work and education for a while and needed a boost in confidence. He was keen on meeting new young people like himself who were searching for new opportunities and employment.

Cameron became a regular at the Cooking with Surplus sessions. He brought lots of humour and creativity to the workshops, making it a relaxed and welcoming space for other young people joining the group. Most of the participants are neurodiverse, some suffer from anxiety and depression and attending the cooking sessions was the first group activity that they had participated in for a long time.

“GETTING INVOLVED WITH FARESHARE SUSSEX & SURREY IS AMAZING. I LEARNED SO MUCH AND FEEL MUCH MORE CONFIDENT ABOUT MY FUTURE. I MET SO MANY KIND AND SUPPORTIVE PEOPLE THERE AND CAN’T WAIT TO BE BACK IN THE KITCHEN EVERY THURSDAY. I TOLD MANY OF MY FRIENDS ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF VOLUNTEERING AND WHAT A GREAT EXPERIENCE IT IS. I CAN’T WAIT TIL SOME OF THEM JOIN THE FARESHARE SUSSEX & SURREY VOLUNTEER FAMILY.”

Cameron

Cameron’s confidence increased and he enrolled on a college course and decided to join our employability programme. He also started volunteering in the community kitchen at FareShare Sussex & Surrey, cooking nutritious plant-based lunches for our volunteers every week using surplus food. Cameron helps with some admin and reception tasks, has completed Food Hygiene and Manual Handling training and on occasions works in the warehouse. He is looking forward to going out in the van as a driver’s mate. He wants to visit some of our projects and encourage their clients to get involved.

Cameron also participated in the Tesco Food Drive and assists our staff members in outreach activities in the local community. As part of the one-to-one support,he attended multiple job fairs and explored further possibilities of getting onto training and placements in the media sector as his ultimate dream would be to work in TV production - ideally on a national breakfast show.

Our Green Agenda

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We are focused on aligning our work with several of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) established by the United Nations, as pictured below. These goals provide a framework for global development and address a wide range of social, economic and environmental challenges, most of which are exacerbated by food insecurity.

Our mission to rescue surplus food and distribute it to those in need tackles food waste, hunger and malnutrition, promotes good health and contributes to responsible consumption and production.

In 2022 we saved and distributed 1,014 tonnes of perfectly fresh and delicious food across Sussex and Surrey. For every tonne we redistribute we save 1.6 tonnes of CO2e and 1.5 million litres of water - that’s enough to fill 61 Olympic-sized swimming pools. Our waste levels averaged 1% last year. Any food which is unsuitable for human consumption is either anaerobically digested or composted in partnership with Whitehawk Allotments and Nature Through Nurture.

Our efforts to mitigate climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions extends beyond food; through collective action in our Green Team we have upgraded to three Electric Vans, two more than last year, and have swapped our energy providers to sustainable and greener alternatives based on 100% renewables. Through partnerships with local food companies, we are able to foster community engagement and maximise our collaborative efforts for improved local environments.

Food insecurity is a common thread linking all 17 SDGs and is at the foundations for multiple intersectionalities of inequality across the UK, including gender, race, age and class - our charity partners support people across all these areas.

GOALS FOR 2023:

• NEW E-BIKE - WE CURRENTLY SHIFT 1.25 TONNES A WEEK FEEDING 1,600 USING OUR E-BIKE. AN ADDITIONAL E-BIKE WILL AMPLIFY THE AMOUNT OF FOOD WE CAN DELIVER LOCALLY, INCREASING OUR CAPACITY TO DELIVER 3.5 TONNES FEEDING OVER 4,000 A WEEK.

• SOLAR PANELS - BRIGHTON IS KNOWN AS THE ‘SUNSHINE CITY’ OF THE UK, SO HARNESSING NATURAL SUNLIGHT WOULD REDUCE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS AND IN THE LONG TERM REDUCE ENERGY COSTS.

• SETTING UP OUR SURREY EXPANSION MORE SUSTAINABLYWE WANT TO BEGIN WITH THE MOST ECO-FRIENDLY OPTIONS: WE WILL ENSURE ALL LIGHT FIXTURES ARE LED, ENROL ONTO A GENUINE RENEWABLE ENERGY PROVIDER, SOURCE LOCAL RECYCLING AND COMPOSTING INITIATIVES FOR WASTE MANAGEMENT AND USE COMPOSTABLE AND SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING RATHER THAN PLASTIC FOR OUR MEAL PRODUCTION.

“THE SUSSEX COMMUNITY FOUNDATION WERE DELIGHTED TO BE ABLE TO SUPPORT FARESHARE SUSSEX & SURREY, THROUGH OUR RAMPION FUND. THE SUSTAINABLE VALUES OF THE CHARITY ALIGN WELL WITH OUR OWN, THEY GO FURTHER THAN JUST RESCUING FOOD FROM GOING TO WASTE BUT SET GREEN GOALS EACH QUARTER, ONE OF WHICH WE HELPED THEM ACHIEVE WITH A GRANT OF £10,000 TOWARDS THE PURCHASE OF AN ELECTRIC POWERED VAN, WHICH SHOULD SAVE AROUND 4,800KG OF CO2 ANNUALLY AND WHEN ELECTRICITY PRICES RETURN TO NORMAL SHOULD SAVE FARESHARE SUSSEX & SURREY £1,800 PER YEAR. A WIN FOR FARESHARE SUSSEX & SURREY AND A WIN FOR OUR ENVIRONMENT.”