It's International Women's Day- and we have some incredible women to celebrate!

We have a pretty special team here at FareShare South West, who care deeply about tackling hunger and food waste. We also have a LOT of incredible women working for our charity! As it’s International Women’s Day, we thought we’d celebrate just some of the amazing women keeping our operation going.

These four women represent a lot of the growth we have seen during the last four years. From new warehouses, to more than quadrupling our food output, to launching into entire new regions. These women keep the wheels turning in our warehouses. And as a working environment overwhelmingly run by men in most sectors, we are pretty proud to have them!

Lucy Bearn, Director of Operations

Lucy joined us back in 2018, when we only had 4 staff members. She has done pretty much every job going since then, and now leads the operation as we head towards an ambitious future of capturing more surplus food than ever.

“This is a charity like no other! We are working to reduce two of the biggest issues in our communities; food poverty and food waste and do this through smart logistics, collaboration and a whole lot of support. Every day is a different challenge in our area of work, but overwhelmingly positive. I think I am incredibly lucky to be working somewhere I know is making a huge difference to society and our planet.”

Amy Sinclair, Warehouse Manager at our new South Bristol warehouse and Employability Development Manager

Amy not only manages our new South Bristol warehouse, just off Vale Lane in Bedminster. She is also supporting our growing team of Kickstarters to have a positive work experience during their time with us. Our Kickstarter programme is the pilot scheme to our Employability Programme. We we hope to develop this further in 2022, to support more young people into work or training.

“If I had all the money in the world, I would still turn up to FareShare on a daily basis as it ticks all my boxes. On an environmental level, I have to be part of the solution tackling food waste. On a social basis I love serving our local community and the incredible work each organisation is doing. I am passionate about providing young people with opportunities that rebuild their confidence and skills in what is for many an insecure future. Our Employability Programme aims to scoop people up with little idea of what they want to do. It skills them up and send them off with a better understanding of themselves and the world they can contribute to.”

Sophie Pike, Warehouse Manager at our Little Ann St warehouse in central Bristol

(Giant cabbages- an excellent solution if you’re camera shy!)

Sophie runs our central Bristol warehouse, which is our busiest and longest-standing depot. This warehouse is a hive of activity from 7am to 7pm. Artic trucks of food arrive, forklifts shift food and over 100 active volunteers work here. Sophie keeps the whole team afloat through thick and thin, including some incredibly challenging times during the pandemic.

“FareShare South West is a foodie heaven. Even after seven years there are items making their way into the warehouse that I have never seen before. I’m in a continuous game of ready steady cook with myself! The environmental impact of what we do makes this job so rewarding. The volunteers that we work with are forever making me smile and working so hard.”

Shelley Wright, Head of Region for Devon & Cornwall

Shelley has been instrumental in strategic work extending the FareShare South West service into Devon and Cornwall since 2019. In 2021, Shelley and her growing team opened a brand new warehouse in Plymouth in partnership with local charities. She heads up the warehouse team to ensure they have enough volunteers, food and charities, keeping the operation running smoothly.