Charity FareShare Cymru has doubled the amount of food it provides to vulnerable people since the Covid-19 lockdown.
Through the support of its hardworking volunteers it has delivered enough food to create around 50,000 meals a week to those at risk of going hungry — up from 25,900 before lockdown.
Working with 136 frontline charities, including food banks and community centres, across the capital and South Wales. in volume it has delivered 178 tonnes of donated in date surplus food since March.
has also signed up 53 new charitable organisations which are supporting vulnerable people through the crisis.
To help meet soaring demand the charity has also secured additional warehouse space to safely store and distribute food from during the crisis.
The food its redistribute includes fresh meat and fish, fruit and vegetables, ready meals, milk and cheese.
Sarah Germain, project Manager at FareShare Cymru, said: “Because of the lockdown many more families and individuals are finding themselves in really tough circumstances, and demand for our food has skyrocketed.
"We’re doing everything we can to continue to get food onto people’s plates, whether that’s delivering fresh food to homeless hostels and domestic violence refuges, or supplying community organisations with the packets and tins they need to get vital food supplies onto the doorsteps of families who are self isolating.
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“We’re incredibly grateful to our team of volunteers who have gone above and beyond to get this food out, and to everyone who has made a donation. These are tough times for everyone and it’s so heartening to see our community pulling together to get food out to people who need it during this crisis."
Cadogs Corner, based in Cadoxton in Barry, is a community café which uses FareShare food, as well as providing cooking workshops and food parcels for vulnerable families. Since the lockdown the charity has evolved its operation to deliver food parcels to families’ doors instead.
Natasha Cockram, who runs Cadogs Corner, said: “Before the pandemic, we usually provided between 30 and 40 food parcels for families each week. Now, with the lockdown putting many families under increased pressure, we’re providing as many as 80 a week. FareShare is a really valuable food supply for the families we support, especially as we’re able to offer fresher ingredients.”
Over the course of the last financial year, the charity redistributed over 570 tonnes of in-date surplus food from the food industry to frontline charities, which was enough to provide over 1.3 million meals.