17:00, 12 April 2021
Words by Smiley Team, Staff Writer, London
On the first day of Ramadan, Asda has announced it will donate £100,000 to the food distribution charity supported by footballer Marcus Rashford FareShare. The funding boost will help Muslim charities and community groups provide meals to vulnerable people in their communities and tackle hunger in the UK.
The retailer will assist Fareshare to offer hundreds of disadvantaged families access to food that would otherwise go to waste. The organisation reaches out to those most in need via the 11,000 charity and community group members that they support.
Asda’s senior director of community, Jo Warner, explained Asda’s motivations: “We know the past year has been challenging for our communities as they’ve faced worrying and uncertain times. Through our work with FareShare, we’re supporting vulnerable families and providing meals to those most in need.
“Food is to be shared and enjoyed and is often a central part of bringing communities together, especially during important religious festivals such as Ramadan. I know many are hoping for a small family gathering to share pre-fasting and post-fasting meals as restrictions ease and this donation will enable community groups to provide food and support for so many families that may be struggling with food security.”
To the individual changemakers driving similar initiatives, Jo said: “To all the community leaders out there making things happen – a huge thank you from us for all that you’re doing, I know it’s making such a difference to your local communities”.
Hunger in the UK is a mounting problem. Since Covid-19 struck the country, increasing numbers of people are relying on food donations, with nine in ten councils experiencing a rise in food bank usage during the pandemic. The news of Asda’s donation comes after FareShare announced it has donated four meals a second this year.
Lindsay Boswell, FareShare Chief Executive, explained that demand for their service has never been higher and unfortunately they anticipate it will remain high for some time, making donations such as that from Asda all the more valuable.
As part of the retailer’s Fight Hunger Create Change programme, Asda has invested in FareShare for three years, funding new warehouses and refits that permitted the charity to redistribute an additional 71 million meals since 2018 and offer food to 4000 extra charities.
Andy Brown, Community Development Leader at Oasis Hub Hobmoor, which is served by FareShare Midlands, said: “With Covid we’ve had to focus much more on food because the need was so great. When the schools were closed from March to August, we basically turned it into a food distribution hub, delivering about 200 food parcels every week.
"Our aim is that no child or adult, no one in Yardley, should go hungry. We’ve heard back from people that the delivery service was really a lifeline, people couldn’t have survived without it and there is still a huge need out there.”
To help tackle this issue and support FareShare’s vital work donate here.
