Two large food redistribution charities have announced that they will merge to form a “bigger and more ambitious organisation with greater national impact”.
FareShare, created over 30 years ago, and The Felix Project, established by Justin and Jane Byam Shaw in 2016 in memory of their son, said they will be uniting to tackle the UK’s “scale of food waste and food insecurity at a time of urgent need”.
The new organisation will adopt the Felix name and unveil a new brand identity gradually as part of a phased transition, which will include a period of dual branding.
In their announcement, the charities said that “by combining FareShare’s national network with Felix’s innovation and London expertise, the new organisation will unlock more food, more funding, and more influence”.
“It’ll create an even stronger force in tackling food waste and hunger across the UK, to better support the thousands of charities and community groups that receive food,” they said.
They added that the merger will allow them to “pool resources, create more collaborative and efficient ways of working and be part of a stronger, joined-up solution to tackling food waste across the UK”.
New leadership team selected
The Felix Project currently supplies surplus food to over 1,200 community organisations in London, while FareShare works with 17 regional partners to distribute surplus food to over 8,000 charities nationwide.
Both charities employ more than 200 members of staff, according to their most recent annual reports, while FareShare recorded an income of £23.1m in the year to March 2024 compared to The Felix Project’s £15.9m income last year.
The charities have worked together since 2020, when The Felix Project became FareShare’s London delivery partner.
Charlotte Hill, who has led The Felix Project over the last three years, will continue as chief executive of the merged charity.
She said: “Bringing together brilliant colleagues, volunteers and partners from both organisations gives us an unprecedented opportunity to scale up food provision for the UK’s most vulnerable communities.”
FareShare’s chief executive Kris Gibbon-Walsh will become deputy CEO of the new charity.
He said: “This merger will enable us to do so much more to tackle food waste at source, whilst we continue to support our brilliant independent network partners through increased food volumes, funding and operational support.
“We’ll also build on FareShare’s 30-year legacy of connecting good food with communities nationwide.”
Dominic Blakemore, the current chair of FareShare and CEO of food service company Compass Group, will head up the new board of trustees.
He said: “This merger exemplifies how two values-driven organisations can come together to increase their collective impact.
“By uniting FareShare’s 30-year history of strategic partnerships and advocacy work with Felix’s reputation for operational excellence, we can build something greater than the sum of the parts.”
Meanwhile, Gavin Darby, who currently chairs The Felix Project, will become vice-chair of the new board.
On other personnel changes, a spokesperson for FareShare told Civil Society that they want the new charity “to be bigger and bolder with greater reach, strength and national impact and to do that we need a team behind it, which means there may be new opportunities for staff”.
“The chief transformation officer and senior leadership team will be examining each department and how it works for both charities and will decide on how to integrate teams effectively,” they said.
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