EV Cargo’s Palletforce has pledged its supply chain expertise and financial support to charities FareShare and the Trussell Trust after being inspired by their work and efforts to redistribute food during the Covid-19 pandemic.
During the pandemic, Palletforce and its members have played a key role in distributing food and grocery items donated to foodbanks as part of a wider collaboration with Sainsbury’s, British Gas, FareShare and the Trussell Trust.
The partnership is supporting families and communities by redistributing nutritious and in-date food to charities, school breakfast clubs and homeless shelters across the UK.
Palletforce and its member network has now committed to ensuring food packages make their way to families and communities that need help most beyond the pandemic.
FareShare is the UK’s national network of charitable food redistributors. It is made up of 18 independent organisations and takes good quality surplus food from across the food industry and distributes it to almost 11,000 frontline charities and community groups.
Since the outbreak of Covid-19 in the UK, demand has soared and at the peak of the crisis the charity tripled the amount of food distributed each week – from one million meals in February meals to over three million in June.
The Trussell Trust supports a nationwide network of food banks, providing emergency food and support to people locked in poverty and campaigning for change to end the need for food banks in the UK.
Since the start of the pandemic, there has been a major rise in people needing to use food banks for the first time. It is forecast that this winter six food bank parcels will be given out every minute.
Michael Conroy, Palletforce chief executive, said: “Playing a key role in the huge effort to distribute food over the last few months, we have experienced first-hand the incredible support that FareShare and the Trussell Trust provides. I have been inspired by their great work and the huge difference it makes to so many individuals, families and communities.
“No family or individual in the UK today should be going hungry or not have food and that’s why we have decided to continue to help long-term.
“Palletforce is committed to supporting the communities in which it operates and will provide long-term logistical and financial support to these charities. We must work together to eradicate the need for food banks and we are committed to playing our part in achieving this goal.”
Lindsay Boswell, FareShare chief executive, said: “The Covid-19 crisis brought a challenge like nothing FareShare had ever seen before in more than 25 years of operating.
“As the nation went into lockdown demand for our service skyrocketed and it is thanks to the incredible support of partners like Palletforce that we were able to triple the amount of food distributed to people facing hardship across the UK – delivering enough food to create more than three million meals a week.
“We’re grateful to Palletforce for their continued support during such a critical time, which will prove vital in helping us continue to get good food where it’s needed most in the difficult months to come.”
Emma Revie, Trussell Trust chief executive, said: “Since the start of the pandemic we’ve seen a huge surge in people needing food banks - it was vital having the support in Palletforce, in partnership with four other organisations, as the nation pulled together in the fight against coronavirus.
“By moving food around the country, Palletforce helped food banks to continue to provide an essential community service, and we’re very grateful for their continued support as we look ahead to winter.
“Ultimately though, no one should need to use a food bank. We want to ensure that this community spirit, of supporting one another during difficult times, continues long after this pandemic, so we can create a society where everyone can buy their own food.”
