In this episode of Food Stories, we head to Buxton to visitWaste Not Want Not at Buxton United Reformed Church – one of FareShare Greater Manchester’s Community Food Members.

On the day we visited, the team was hosting one of ourDelicious Vegelicious cookery demonstrations, giving local people the chance to see fresh surplus fruit and vegetables transformed into delicious dishes – and, of course, have a taste too!

Our Vegelicious scheme helps get more fresh fruit andvegetables out into the community, while Delicious Vegelicious pop-ups encourage people to try new ingredients, pick up cooking ideas and feel moreconfident experimenting with food at home.

We hear from Waste Not Want Not Project CoordinatorCatherine Sterndale about the difference the project is making in Buxton, as well as FareShare Greater Manchester community chef Kala Mandviwala and corporate volunteer John O’Callaghan, who spent the day helping in the kitchen.

From a colourful beetroot and citrus salad to a tasty veggiestir fry, this episode is a celebration of good food, community and the joy of trying something new.

You can find out more about Waste Not Want Not here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BuxtonVegFruitCoOp

Neighbourly: https://www.neighbourly.com/project/62eaa043cc619fef02b7d734

For more information about FareShare Greater Manchester and how we support charities and community groups with good-to-eat surplus food, visit our website: https://faresharegm.org.uk/

If you enjoy this episode, please share it with someone whomight like to hear it and leave us a rating or review on your favourite podcast app.

Thanks for listening!

Food Stories: Storehouse Congleton – More Than Food

In this episode of Food Stories from FareShare GreaterManchester, we visit the Storehouse Food Bank at New Life Church in Congleton to hear how it supports people experiencing crisis and extreme hardship in the local community.

The Storehouse is a free food bank offering emergency foodsupport to individuals, couples and families who are referred by more than 50 local support organisations and agencies, including schools, Citizens Advice and the local authority.

We meet Joanna and Mike, who give us an insight into the day-to-day running of the food bank and the difference that access to a wider range of food through FareShare Greater Manchester makes to the people they support.

We also hear from Jeff, an Elder at New Life Church, about the importance of the partnership with FareShare and how the church's support for its community extends far beyond food parcels. Alongside the Storehouse, New Life Church offers debt advice, support for families and young people, and a group for families affected by dementia.

For Jeff, it's about creating a network of support andconnection for people who may be going through difficult times – helping to make a lasting difference in people's lives.

Find out more about the Storehouse Food Bank:
New Life Church – Storehouse

Find out more about FareShare Greater Manchester:
Visit our website to discover more about our work rescuing good-to-eat surplus food and redistributing it to charities and community groups aross Greater Manchester, and find out how you can support us through food donations, fundraising or volunteering.

If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with someonewho might enjoy hearing it too, and consider leaving a rating or review on your favourite podcast app. It helps more people discover Food Stories from FareShare Greater Manchester.

Food Stories: Emmaus Mossley – Food, Community and Fresh Starts

In this episode of Food Stories, we head to Emmaus Mossley, one of FareShare Greater Manchester’s Community Food Members, to find out how surplus food is helping to create more than just nutritious meals.

Emmaus Mossley is part of a community supporting people who have experienced homelessness. Known as Companions, residents live and work together, building confidence, developing skills and supporting one another as they look towards the future.

We meet Danny Gregson, Catering Manager, and Molly Ridgeway, as well as some of the Companions who live and work at Emmaus Mossley, to hear about life in the kitchen and the important role food plays in bringing the community together.

From creating meals around whatever surplus food arrives through FareShare, to sharing food around the table, we discover how a delivery of surplus food can become so much more than a meal.

🎧 In this episode, we explore:

• How Emmaus Mossley supports people who have experienced homelessness
• The role food plays in creating community and connection
• How FareShare surplus food is used in the Emmaus kitchen

• The experiences of the Companions who live and work at Emmaus
• Why good food can be an important part of a fresh start

A huge thank you to everyone at Emmaus Mossley for welcoming us and sharing their stories.

Find out more about Emmaus Mossley: https://emmaus.org.uk/mossley/

For more information about FareShare Greater Manchester and what we do to support more than 250 charities and community groups across Greater Manchester, please visit our website: ⁠https://faresharegm.org.uk/⁠If you have enjoyed listening to this podcast episode, please share it with anyone who you think would benefit from hearing it too.

To find out when our next episode is out, please subscribe to Food Stories Podcast on your podcast app, and follow us on social media.

In this episode of Food Stories from FareShare Greater Manchester, we visit Trust House Bury to see how surplus food is helping support people across the local community.

Through their pantry and café, Trust House Bury provides affordable food—and a vital gateway to wider support. Hear from staff, volunteers and visitors about the difference it makes.

A powerful story of community, connection and the impact of food.

For more information about FareShare Greater Manchester and what we do to support more than 250 charities and community groups across Greater Manchester, please visit our website: https://faresharegm.org.uk/If you have enjoyed listening to this podcast episode, please share it with anyone who you think would benefit from hearing it too. To find out when our next episode is out, please subscribe to Food Stories Podcast on your podcast app, and follow us on social media.

In this episode of Food Stories, we visit Levenshulme Inspire, a thriving community hub where affordable meals, friendly faces and shared spaces help bring people together.

Based in the Levenshulme United Reformed Church building, Inspire hosts a wide range of activities for local residents – and runs a welcoming community café using surplus food from FareShare Greater Manchester.

We hear from café coordinator Zaneta, chef Andy, volunteer Rahila and regular visitors Pauline and Billy about how Inspire is tackling food waste, building confidence and creating a place where everyone belongs.

You can discover more about Levenshulme Inspire Centre on their website: https://www.lev-inspire.org.uk/

For more information about FareShare Greater Manchester and what we do to support more than 250 charities and community groups across Greater Manchester, please visit our website: https://faresharegm.org.uk/

If you have enjoyed listening to this podcast episode, please share it with anyone who you think would benefit from hearing it too. To find out when our next episode is out, please subscribe to Food Stories Podcast on your podcast app, and follow us on social media.

In this episode of Food Stories, we explore the storybehind the Buckingham Emergency Food Appeal and its annual Christmas delivery to FareShare Greater Manchester.

What began 40 years ago as a single truck delivering turkeysfor people in need has grown into a nationwide effort helping charities provide festive meals to vulnerable communities.

Hear from Ken Smith from BEFA, FareShare Greater Manchester’s Karina Tiplady, corporate volunteers and Manchester charity, Lifeshare, about the planning, partnerships and people who make this special Christmas delivery possible – helping ensure more people can enjoy a warm meal and companionship at Christmas.

You can find out more about BEFA here: https://befafoodappeal.co.uk/

If you have enjoyed listening to this podcast episode, please share it with anyone who you think would benefit from hearing it too. To find out when our next episode is out, please subscribe to Food Stories Podcast on your podcast app, and follow us on social media.

Learn more about the work FareShare Greater Manchester does and the charities and community groups we work with over on our website: https://faresharegm.org.uk/

Food Waste Action Week begins today and we’re celebratingwith the return of our Food Stories Podcast!

We took our microphone out to Crumpsall to chat to the amazing team behind Rainbow Surprise, one of our community food members, who are doing amazing things to support their local community and people from further afield too.

Rainbow Surprise is a busy community hub which operates out of Crumpsall Community Hall. Run by husband-and-wife team, Shakar and Shabnam Hussain, the services they offer include emergency food parcels, a food bank, community café, a salon offering haircuts and a recently opened community garden and outdoor space which is used to grow fresh produce.

You can find out more about Rainbow Surprise here: https://rainbowsurprise.com/

For moreinformation about FareShare Greater Manchester and what we do to help supportmore than 250 charities and community groups across Greater Manchester, pleasevisit our website.⁠

If you have enjoyed listening to this podcast episode,please share it with anyone who you think would benefit from hearing it too. To find out when our next episode is out, please subscribe to Food Stories Podcast on your podcast app, and follow us on social media.

On World Food Day, we're sharing a brand new episode of our Food Stories Podcast taking you back to a great event in spring of this year.

Back in May, we joined forces with Cracking Good Food and supplied food for their brilliant corporate volunteering event, the 'Carnival Cook Up'. The day-long event which was based at Freight Island in the centre of Manchester, saw around 90 corporate volunteers cooking surplus food in order to provide 1,500 meals for people experiencing homelessness around Greater Manchester.

For more information about Cracking Good Food, please visit their website.

Full shownotes for this episode can be found on the FareShare Greater Manchester website.

If you have enjoyed listening to this podcast episode, please share it with anyone who you think would benefit from hearing it too. To find out when our next episode is out, please subscribe to Food Stories Podcast on your podcast app, and follow us on social media.If you’re cooking for your local community and think we can help you with food, please get in touch with us. Contact our Membership & Information Coordinator Karina on [email protected] or give us a call on 0161 223 8200 (Option 4).

Trafford Veterans has been working with FareShare Greater Manchester since the Covid pandemic. The group, which supports armed forces & emergency services veterans living in Trafford, has been running for a decade. When the pandemic hit, they extended the services they offer to include food too.

Each week, they run a Friday Hub where people can come to access help and support as well as enjoy a light lunch, and their monthly Breakfast Club offers a social space for people to meet and chat over a cooked breakfast.

We went along to one of their monthly Breakfast Clubs to find out more about what they do and see where some of the good-to-eat surplus food we provide them with goes.

You can find out more about Trafford Veterans on their website.

For more information about FareShare Greater Manchester and what we do to help support more than 250 charities and community groups across Greater Manchester, please visit our website.

If you have enjoyed listening to this podcast episode, please share it with anyone who you think would benefit from hearing it too. To find out when our next episode is out, please subscribe to Food Stories Podcast on your podcast app, and follow us on social media.

It's National Food Waste Action Week and to mark it, we're sharing some special episodes to look at where some of our food goes, and in this particular case, where it comes from.

Last year, here at FareShare Greater Manchester, we redistributed almost 2,000 tonnes of surplus food which would otherwise have gone to waste. In real terms, that's equivalent to 4.6 million meals which went to support 306 charities and community groups across our city and beyond.

In this episode we're speaking to two of our local food suppliers Holland's Pies in Lancashire & Soreen in Trafford Park.

To find out more about the work we do to support communities across Greater Manchester and to find out how you can donate food to our operation, please check out our website.