Please support our match funded Plymouth hub appeal today
“We’ve had children come to school fainting with hunger. We’ve set up two emergency breakfast clubs with your food.” Melissa, Green Box, Okehampton
Hunger and hardship in Devon and Cornwall is profound – and it keeps growing. With backing from Simon Hallett, owner of Plymouth Argyle FC, and his wife Jane, we’re launching an urgent matched funding appeal to respond.
Our current Plymouth hub was launched in 2022, designed to redistribute food for up to 1 million meals annually by 2025. Rising poverty meant that our little hub exceeded this in its first 8 months. Local people are still going hungry. We have no room here to grow and our lease runs out in January.
With your support we can secure, fit-out and run a triple-sized food and employability hub. It’ll mean we can provide food for an extra 600,000 nutritious meals a year with over 11,000 people in need across rural and inner-city communities, alongside a hands-on employability kitchen and training rooms.
We’ve already raised over half the funding we need but need your support to reach our £400,000 target. Every gift will be matched by the Halletts, meaning you will double your impact.
How to get involved
To commit your support and help unlock our match funding, please contact our Deputy CEO, Josie Forsyth: 0117 954 2220 or via josie.forsyth@faresharesouthwest.org.uk to transfer your donation without platform fees and secure Gift Aid. Alternatively use the following form to donate immediately.
The new hub will mean:
- Three times our current size at 8000 sq ft with freezers, chillers, catering kitchen, breaking-bulk spaces and new equipment
- A 7.2 tonne truck, driver and produce coordinator to revolutionise food sourcing
- A multi-partner hub with bespoke spaces to launch a new employability programme and corporate engagement
By supporting us to take this next step for Devon and Cornwall, you’ll be making a profound, lasting impact on the lives of children struggling in your neighbourhoods, bringing health, dignity and routes out of poverty.
This is the difference your support will make:
Space to rescue and share food for 2.2 million meals a year by Year 3
Essential support for 25 new local charities in Devon and Cornwall
An extra 230 tonnes of food saved – food for 600,000 extra meals
- 21% of England’s schools now run a food bank
- 19% of children across Devon and 23% in Cornwall are living in poverty
- This rises to 35% in parts of Torbay, 36% in Penzance and 42% in some areas of North Devon and Bodmin
- A 2025 YouGov survey revealed that 85% of teachers said children were unable to concentrate as a result of poverty; over half personally provide extra food for pupils during the school day
Systemic change is needed to make good food, health, and dignity available to all in our region. Until then, with your support, we’ll be here, empowering a network of hope.
