CFINE is delighted to announce we have been shortlisted for another award! Holyrood’s Climate Action Awards 2024 which “celebrate the achievements of some of the key individuals and organisations who are contributing to our net-zero journey”. The awards consist of several different categories, and CFINE’s FareShare Grampain, Highlands & Islands project has been shortlisted for a Climate Collaboration Award:
“This award celebrates a successful climate collaboration between the public sector and private or third sector."
FareShare is the UK’s largest charity fighting hunger and tackling food waste. FareShare works with the food industry to identify surplus food which would otherwise go to waste and redistributes it to charities who use it to support communities. This cross-sector partnership saves food from going to landfill, contributing to significant carbon savings each year, thus contributing towards Scotland’s net-zero ambitions.
CFINE operates FareShare Grampian, Highlands & Islands from our warehouses in Aberdeen and Alness. Our dedicated teams cover 7 local authority areas - Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray, Highland, Orkney, Shetland, and Na h-Eileanan Siar.
In 2023-24, FareShare Grampian, Highlands & Islands redistributed 631.5 tonnes of surplus food to more than 200 Community Food Members. This significant amount of food benefited local frontline organisations supporting people facing food insecurity/poverty. Crucially, by diverting surplus food from landfill, this saved 1,263 tonnes of carbon emissions.
This is achieved by fostering strong relationships with the private sector food industry, and partnerships across the public sector. FareShare engages with over 600 suppliers across the UK, encouraging them to donate any surplus food to avoid waste and provide community benefit. This cross-sector partnership is boosted by investment from FareShare UK, the Surplus with Purpose Fund, to level the playing field and make it economically viable for businesses to pass on good surplus food.
The project would not succeed without our dedicated team of hardworking staff, volunteers, and participants on CFINE’s Warehouse Skills Development Programme. Volunteers are the backbone of the organisation and give their time, energy and enthusiasm, and, quite simply, without them the impact would not be possible.
CFINE also uses surplus food for educational purposes in its community training kitchen, Cook at the ‘Nook. The kitchen has eight fully equipped workstations, and hosts ‘cooking on a budget’ sessions for beneficiaries who have previously accessed emergency food. By using surplus food to create nutritious, low-cost meals, and equipping people with food skills and knowledge, significant social and environmental impact is achieved.
During 2023-24, 158 individuals took part in cooking sessions, and CFINE hosted highly successful cooking events for Climate Week North East, which engaged members of the public on key messages around the climate emergency, as well as tips on reducing household food waste.
CFINE has proven that genuine, cross-sector partnership with the private, public and third sectors is possible, and indeed crucial in facing up to the climate and nature emergency.
Many congratulations to all the other shortlisted organisations! We look forward to attending the ceremony in Edinburgh on Tuesday the 1st of October!
