The bakery brand Hovis has donated almost 50,000 loaves of bread to the food distribution charity FareShare during the coronavirus crisis.
Hovis donated almost 30,000 loaves to the charity in April, and more than 19,950 in the first three weeks of May.
The company has had a partnership with FareShare since 2017, and increased the number of loaves it donated in April to meet the surge in demand that FareShare was experiencing as people struggled to get hold of food amid panic buying.
FareShare collects good-to-eat, in-date and surplus food and donates it to more than 11,000 frontline charities, including to homeless shelters, school breakfast clubs, lunch clubs for the elderly and community cafes. Most of these charities have now adapted to deliver food to people’s doorsteps or to safe collection points.
In 2018/19 FareShare distributed 46.5 million meals worth of food, but it saw an extra 500 new charities sign up to receive food from it in March, 80 per cent of which were providing food parcels.
Nick Taylor, site manager, at Hovis’s Nottingham bakery said: “At this incredibly challenging time for the UK, it is vital that we all pull together to help those whose livelihoods have been impacted by the Covid-19 crisis.
“While we cannot hope to replicate the heroic work being done by NHS workers and care staff on the front line, Hovis can help by donating good food to those in need, helping fight hunger and cut food waste at the same time.”
Ashley Davies, FareShare commercial manager, said the company’s donations would benefit many of those who are most in need during the crisis, and the charity was extremely grateful.