You can apply for FareShare South West membership online by completing our short form. We’ll contact to you within one week to talk through your options.

Because food is highly regulated for health and safety, we require organisations to register with the Environmental Health Office (EHO). We can talk you through what’s required if you need support.

No, unless you’re able to visit one of our mobile produce pantries around Bristol. We rescue food at scale, and send it out across the south west to the charities, schools and community hubs who do support local people directly.

Mobile produce pantries run weekly from The Park in Knowle West, 224 Youth Zone in Hartcliffe, and Avonmouth Community Centre. Please check their websites for more information.

If you need emergency or long-term food support, please contact your GP, social worker or support worker: they may be able to help you get food vouchers. You should also try searching for ‘community food support’ with your location to find what’s available near you.

All members pay a fee for receiving food from FareShare South West. If your food is delivered, we also charge a small delivery fee. Membership begins at 50kg per week. You can choose to get our food for 50 weeks of the year, or term-time only (39 weeks a year).

Membership fees:

• 40p/kg for collection
• 45p/kg for collection from a local collection point
• 50p/kg for delivery

During your onboarding, you’ll tell us what types of food you would prefer to receive. We’ll always keep your preferences in mind when we allocate your food, but we can’t guarantee a consistent supply of specific items every week as the food we receive is surplus, and can vary widely. If your organisation only wants ambient food (tins, pasta, cereal etc) or ready meals, we won’t be able to fulfil your needs.

We won’t ever send you items that you’re unable to receive for cultural or safety reasons, for example pork products, food with alcohol as an ingredient, food with allergen ingredients.

Membership provides your organisation a regular supply of quality food at a significantly reduced cost compared to retail prices.

Many people are reluctant to access food support due to shame or stigma. Because our food has been rescued from waste, it’s food that would literally have been thrown away even though it’s perfectly good to eat. Members tell us this message really helps people to embrace food support, as they’re doing something good for the planet by helping reduce waste.

As a member, you’ll receive a bi-monthly newsletter from our team with local fundraising opportunities, food updates so you know what to expect, and examples of best practice from other members. The funding opportunities have helped existing members to buy new equipment like freezers, and in some cases keep the doors open for a vital local project.

If you want to raise your profile, our comms team are always looking for stories to share on our website, social media and in local and national media.

FareShare South West’s food comes directly from the food industry, before the food has ever reached a shelf in a shop. We rescue and redistribute food that would otherwise go to waste. This includes:

• Food from farms: surplus produce due to seasonal gluts, cosmetic rejection, oversupply
• Short-dated food that will not pass through the consumer food chain quickly enough
• Packaging errors, ends of lines and seasonal promotions
• Minor quality control issues (for example, a yogurt with less fruit than the ingredients state)
• Repurposed surplus, such as Flex soups and part-meals from Charlie Bigham’s

Some of our food suppliers also choose to donate stock that isn’t surplus, to show their support for local people. Sometimes we receive funding to buy food for specific projects, such as culturally-appropriate food, or holiday food support for children who would usually receive free school meals.