FareShare Greater Manchester has launched a new fundraising campaign to raise £25,000 for a replacement delivery van to help keep vital food supplies reaching charities and community groups across Oldham and the wider region.
The appeal - which runs until the end of February 2026 - aims to replace one of the charity’s fleet of six vans (one of which has been on the road for 17 years; another has clocked up 235,000 miles).
Without these vans, FareShare Greater Manchester would be unable to deliver good-to-eat surplus food to the 60 community organisations each week who rely on its deliveries.
It serves 290 charities and community groups across Greater Manchester each month including 12 groups in Oldham including: Oldham Community Grocers, East Oldham Methodist Church, Oldham Food Bank, St Barnabus Oldham.
To launch the campaign, the charity has released a short film featuring one of its delivery drivers (Simon), it’s Head of Operations (Derek), and two of the community food members it serves – Coffee4Craig (which supports those experiencing homelessness in Manchester) and The Bideford Centre in Baguley, Wythenshawe.
FareShare Greater Manchester is part of the FareShare network – the UK’s largest food redistribution charity.
Working with the food industry, the organisation rescues surplus food that would otherwise go to waste and redistributes it to frontline charities & community groups supporting people in need.
Last year, FareShare Greater Manchester redistributed 2,000 tonnes of surplus food – enough for 4.72 million meals – which were distributed to over 290 charities and community groups across Greater Manchester and beyond.
However, with its van fleet getting older, the charity is warning that it urgently needs support to stay on the road.
Head of Operations at FareShare Greater Manchester, Derek Shelton explained: “Five days a week, every morning, all the vans are needed. Vans breakdown and then all of a sudden we’re in trouble. People are waiting for this food. They might only have that slot in that community centre that day, and if we don’t get there, then they can’t distribute the food to the people who’ve come to get it. So it’s really, really critical that we don’t fail on deliveries.”
Matty, Kitchen Manager at Coffee4Craig said: “We provide a hot meal and a pudding for up to 80 guests per evening. If FareShare don’t have vans on the road, they can’t bring the food to places like Coffee4Craig, which means that there aren’t then places for people to come in the evening and get off the streets for a couple of hours.”
Kirsty Taylor, from The Bideford Community Centre in Baguley, Wythenshawe added: “They come to us every week and they bring us fruit, veg, toiletries.
“If FareShare couldn’t deliver to us, it would have a massive impact on everybody. Every single household that comes to us, would be affected somehow. They’re our lifeline in Wythenshawe really.”
FareShare Greater Manchester’s work tackles two major issues at once: food insecurity and food waste. Millions of people in the UK struggle to afford food, while millions of tonnes of edible food are wasted each year by the food industry.
The charity’s warehouse team and volunteers ensure that perfectly good surplus food is rescued, sorted and distributed to groups that transform it into meals for people who need support – from families and children to older people and those experiencing homelessness.
Donations to the FareShare Greater Manchester Van Fundraiser Appeal can be made online at: https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/van-fundraiser
Every donation, large or small, will help keep FareShare Greater Manchester’s vital deliveries running for the communities that rely on them. Watch the appeal video here: https://youtu.be/aUpUbBOekeA?si=XiA8owImsjMvU_fH
Oldham NHS heroes celebrated
Officers appealing for information following two targeted arson attacks in Oldham
Pennine Mencap hail a glittering Celebratory Ball a huge success
New Lidl store opens in Oldham
