How was the consortium created?
Using funds raised from sales of carrier bags, Asda came together with the food charities FareShare and the Trussell Trust to create Fight Hunger, Create Change. The programme aims to provide an additional 24 million meals to those in need, make fresh fruit and vegetables readily available in food banks and provide a million people with the food and services they need to help them out of the situation they're in – all by 2020.
What did it do?
Asda funded FareShare to increase its capacity by creating two new regional centres, extending warehouses, leasing new ones, building new chillers and increasing the number of delivery vans. Asda also supported the Trussell Trust’s food bank network to create support programmes tackling the root causes of poverty. By connecting 400 Trussell Trust food banks with local FareShare regional centres, the programme was able to increase the variety and enhance the nutritional value of emergency food parcels.
What has it achieved?
Asda customers and colleagues donated 568 tonnes of food with a monetary value of £674,959. Grant funding was given to 88 food banks, and 698 new FareShare charity food members were recruited, supporting 75,000 new beneficiaries with food.
What did the judges say?
"A good example of structural and systemic thinking, with a holistic approach leveraging a range of resources to change people’s lives at a local level," said Fozia Irfan, chief executive of the Bedfordshire and Luton Community Foundation.
Highly commended
Association of British Bookmakers with White Ribbon Scotland
Finalists
Barclays with Catch 22 and the Prince's Trust
Aberdeen Standard Investments, University of Edinburgh, Brodies and the Scottish government with Big Issue Invest