A charity that works to combat hunger and food waste in Bristol has been awarded a £60,000 donation by financial and professional services firm Smith & Williamson.

FareShare, which has a regional centre in St. Jude’s, is one of the UK’s national networks of charitable food redistributors. It takes good quality surplus food from across the food industry and delivers it to almost 11,000 frontline charities and community groups. Last year, enough food was redistributed to provide £46.5 million worth of meals.

Smith & Williamson is also donating £15,000 to FoodCloud, a social enterprise that matches businesses with surplus food to local charities and community groups,principally in Ireland.

In addition to the immediate £75,000 donation to the two charities, Smith & Williamson staff are being encouraged to raise money and make donations of their own. The firm will match all staff contributions up to a cumulative total of £25,000.

Nigel Hardy, managing partner of the professional services business at Smith & Williamson in Bristol, said:

“Both of these organisations do an incredible job redistributing surplus food to charities and communities across the UK and Ireland, focusing their efforts on some of the most vulnerable individuals and families in society, who will need particular support during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“This includes the homeless, families whose children would normally receive free school meals, the elderly, people with underlying health conditions and those who need to self-isolate.

“Of course, fundraising for charity during lockdown is more challenging but colleagues are already finding innovative ways to keep in touch, from virtual pub quizzes to bingo nights.”