FareShare food aid scheme's success during pandemic hailed with nearly one million meals delivered in the Highlands
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Almost a million meals have been delivered to Highland households in need during the pandemic through a collaborative effort involving Highland Council, charities and community groups.
The local authority has worked in partnership with the Community Food Initiative North East (CFINE), which operates FareShare Scotland in the north of Scotland.
Funding has come from the Scottish Government, with donations from supermarkets and food suppliers targeting humanitarian support where it is most needed.
Since initial lockdown in March last year, FareShare has provided around 374 tonnes of quality food in the Highlands – equivalent to more than 900,000 meals.
The 277 tonnes received by Highland Council continues to be delivered to individual households, with the vast majority distributed by a network of community groups.
The council’s partnership with FareShare was first established in February 2019 with the aim of alleviating food insecurities for Highland households.
At that time, as well as providing doorstep deliveries to individual households, the council began to develop partnerships with a network of faith groups, charities and other support groups involved in food distribution.
As a result of the pandemic, this model has been expanded to tackle increasing need within communities.
Councillor Matthew Reiss, vice chairman of the council’s corporate resources committee, said: “Here in the Highlands, unemployment is increasing and there are around 14,300 furloughed employees.
“This co-ordinated response ensures that food support can be provided when needs arise.
“The retail value of the supplies provided for the Highlands by FareShare is estimated at around a staggering £500,000, which is most welcome.
“However, it reinforces the social and economic impacts that the pandemic has had on people’s daily lives and underlines the ongoing need for council teams to continue to collaborate with communities and the third sector to provide a steady supply of quality food.”
Meanwhile, thousands of Highland households have used the council’s local fuel support scheme which was launched last month.
Using Scottish Government funding, the non-repayable grant of £60 per household is for those awarded a council tax reduction and encountering difficulty in paying their fuel bills. In the initial three-week period of the scheme, the council received more than 4500 applications.
Cllr Reiss added: “There has been a tremendous response from across the Highlands for this important fuel support grant.”
