If you have any questions or queries, we’d love to hear from you. Our general email is info@faresharesouthwest.org.uk Click on a team member to find their contact details.
Our office number (for general enquiries) is 0117 954 2220 and our warehouse number (for delivery enquiries) is 0117 941 4401.
As CEO, Gene is responsible for overseeing the entire FSSW team, the Charity’s Governance, key developments, financial viability, H&S, Compliance and ensuring that we are maximising the Charity’s mission, whilst setting the culture of a compassionate and supportive environment for staff and volunteers. Gene reports to the Board of Trustees, and will often represent FSSW within the FareShare network, to external stakeholders and key partners, in order to get support (Financial, Food, Employability/Volunteers).
Currently on maternity leave (as of December 2022), Lucy is Director of Operations for FareShare South West. She heads up all operations, food and logistics, and programmes across all our regions (West of England and Devon and Cornwall). Joining back in 2018, she has worked across almost every area of the charity since she started!
Simon says; “With my team, I use systems and technology to optimise our ways of working so that we can be as efficient as possible and to make best use of our resources in providing a reliable delivery service that is fully compliant with food safety regulations. This includes planning for future growth throughout the region including bringing additional depots and partner organisations into the network.
I love the work that we do at FareShare South West and how tangible it all is. It’s so clear to see the huge throughput of food in our warehouses; a head-height pallet of fresh produce can arrive one day and be almost entirely depleted the next as it has been loaded up and sent on its way.”
Dave spent over a year running our Ashton Gate warehouse during the emergency food operations of 2020-21. He has an incredible wealth of experience in finance and has since migrated to our offices to become our Finance Manager and now Director of Finance.
Josie joined the team in 2023 with a passion for social justice, strategy and free biscuits.*
She’s developing growth strategies for fundraising, brand and communications across the South West, harnessing the compassion and creativity of our amazing supporters, volunteers and staff to tackle the twin scourges of climate crisis and rising poverty. Josie is here to meet with comms experts, national grant-making trusts, local government and like-minded individuals to make all this happen. Please get in touch if you can help! josie.forsyth@faresharesouthwest.org.uk.
She says: “I’ve admired FareShare South West’s impact for years through working and volunteering at charities and schools whose beneficiaries depend and thrive on meals cooked with our food. I didn’t know the half of it before I joined though – the supported volunteering programmes, the employability course for young people who missed out on so much due to the pandemic, the scale of the food impact…
I can’t stand the fact that one in four children in South West are struggling to get the food they need while minutes away from their homes, edible food is being thrown away by the tonne. I love that FareShare South West tackles these issues head on in partnership and to an enormous scale – food for three million meals per year. And I am driven by the fact that there is still so much more to do and I can be a part of the change. It’s why I joined!”
*This job makes you hungry – luckily we have talented bakers among the staff!
Ben is responsible for the local sourcing of food across both the West of England and Devon + Cornwall regions. This includes onboarding new local food suppliers to increase the amount and variety of food in the warehouse, as well as maintaining relationships with our current suppliers. This does not include the food sent in from FareShare UK. On top of this, Ben manages the food side to any projects that FSSW are running such as our holiday projects or the 7.5T truck. Day to day tasks include reaching out to new suppliers, organising collections of food, developing projects alongside the regional teams.
Susie joined FareShare South West in 2023, with a background in marketing and communications for a disability rights charity, Bristol’s hospice and higher education. She’s also worked in education and pastoral care for children and young people.
‘I’m passionate about fighting hunger and poverty right here on our doorstep, and supporting people to understand the positive environmental impact of tackling food waste too.
“My role touches every aspect of FareShare South West’s incredibly powerful work. I’m here to tell the stories of our supporters and partners to help more people see the real impact on people’s daily lives – and to make sure everyone who works and volunteers here feels empowered and recognised.”
Outside her role, Susie writes funny, family-led and inclusive children’s books for 8+. She loves playing roller derby, crocheting ugly blankets, and shortbread biscuits.
Charlie is our Head of Compliance, a new role that will ensure operations are set up and managed effectively, safely, and to required levels of compliance with health and safety, food safety and other regulations across all our sites. Charlie joined FareShare SW (from a background in community recycling and reuse projects) as Warehouse Operations Manager in 2013 running the Little Ann Street centre, progressing to Operations Manager prior to the new role.
Charlie says, “My favourite aspects of working at FareShare South West are the people – colleagues and volunteers – all who have bought into the mission to save and redistribute otherwise unwanted food, and the food itself – I’m keen to avoid waste; and maximise resource efficiency. And I love a pasty or two.”
Sophie joined FareShare South West in early 2021 as Trusts & Grants Fundraising Manager. Responsible for applying for funding from, and managing relationships with, all the wonderful Trusts and Foundations that support FareShare South West. Trusts and Foundations are charitable organisations established to donate money to good causes. They have their own aims and objectives, and it is Sophie’s job to research which ones may be suitable to apply to, and then to persuade them to support our work.
“I have been in awe of the work at FareShare for several years now and am very proud to have recently joined the team at FareShare South West. I find it very upsetting that so many people in the UK live in food poverty, whilst at the same time, thousands of tonnes of edible food is wasted every week. It’s wonderful working with such a dynamic and pro-active group of people, for an organisation that has such a positive impact on so many people lives.”
Sophie would be delighted to hear from any trusts who may be considering expanding their portfolio of charities to support – Sophie.coles@faresharesouthwest.org.uk
Jenny joined the team in September 2021 to take care of our amazing individual donors and fundraisers. She’s here to help people fundraise & support, while communicating to donors the amazing impact they’re making. Jenny has worked in supporter care for several years for both environmental and social justice charities. She loves the way FareShare brings these two issues together, solving them at the same time.
“FareShare South West aren’t just changing the lives of individual people as we help them get back on their feet, we are also transforming the way the UK’s entire food systems works in order to make it more sustainable! Every supporter that gives to FareShare South West becomes a valuable part of that. What I love about my role is empowering people to make a difference, while making sure they know their value.”
If you would like help fundraising, have any questions about donating, or are an individual or community group that would like to hear more about FareShare South West, Jenny would love to hear from you – jenny.weld@faresharesouthwest.org
Emily joined the Fundraising and Communications Team in October 2022. She works to raise public awareness of FareShare South West’s work, and spotlight our brilliant suppliers, community food partners and volunteers. Her day-to-day role involves managing our social media channels, applying for funding from small trusts, and assisting with fundraising campaigns.
Amy runs our Volunteer Plus programme. She supports the people who volunteer with FareShare South West to meet their individual needs and fulfil their aspirations. In 2022, she launched FareChance. As part of Volunteer Plus, FareChance offers meaningful work experience to young people to help them identify and take their next steps.
“This organisation ticks all my boxes; tackling food waste, delivering high quality food to incredible organisations who are running inspiring projects. I love working with young people, opening doors to those who may not have been given these opportunities in such a positive environment where the staff are passionate, innovative and accommodating.”
Peggy has recently joined the team to oversee general volunteer recruitment and actively promote the volunteer program across Bristol and the South West. She is committed to supporting a passionate team of staff and volunteers, ensuring their enriching experience at FareShare South West. This involves collaborating with the Warehouse Manager to identify and provide tailored training for volunteers who require extra support, analysing volunteer retention to recognise positive reasons for progression. Additionally, Peggy supports the Volunteer Coordinator in conducting individual meetings with volunteers, covering areas of personal growth and development.
Catherine joined the team in 2021 with a wealth of experience working for Bristol charities and companies. She looks after our charity members, ensuring they receive the right foods and get the best possible service from us. As a cook, in her spare time, Catherine likes to come up with new recipes for the more unusual ingredients we get into the warehouse, which she enjoys sharing with our member charities.
Nev started working for FareShare South West back in August 2009 as one of our volunteers – nearly 10 years later and he became our warehouse assistant! Nev managed food deliveries and orders in our warehouse office along with Lucy and Charlie.
He is now our Community Food Member Support Officer which entails taking down all the orders and talking to various CFM members. He works alongside Catherine, Fionn & Roni in the membership team.
Fionn’s background has been in hospitality and events in Bristol. But for the last two years, he’s been working with organisations in Europe providing logistical support to groups that support displaced people in various locations. He joined FareShare South West to work with local suppliers, minimise waste and address food insecurity right here on his doorstep.
Sophie manages our two Bristol warehouses, making sure everything runs smoothly. She joined our team after working down in Brighton for FareShare Sussex, so she knows a thing or two about the world of surplus food! Sophie keeps the show on the road each day, with her tremendous volunteers and dedicated staff team to make sure food gets to the charities we support.
Laura volunteered at our Bristol warehouses as an order picker before becoming a full time staff member in 2022. She started as Community Food Operations Coordinator and has now moved to full-time warehouse supervisor, where she oversees day to day warehouse operations, supports volunteers and manages goods-in and out.
As a Warehouse Supervisor at our Central Bristol warehouse, Liam is jointly responsible for operations including incoming deliveries of food; logging them on our system; van coordination and efficient stocktaking practices across the site to maximise the food that reaches the projects we work with.
Angus works across all West of England sites to coordinate the upkeep of our ever-growing fleet of vans. This new role represents a lot of growth for FareShare South West and is a vital new role as we gain more vans in more locations.
Nessa works in our West of England team, keeping our Bristol warehouses running smoothly and safely. She started life with us as a volunteer, and during the pandemic emergency period was recruited into our warehouse team. Luckily for us, she agreed to stay!
As a Warehouse Supervisor at Vale Lane, Kirsty is jointly responsible for operations including incoming deliveries of food; logging them on our system; van coordination and efficient stocktaking practices across the site to maximise the food that reaches the projects we work with. She also manages, trains and supports the volunteers at our South Bristol warehouse on Vale Lane.
Patrick manages the FareChance programme – one arm of our volunteering programme. He is responsible for recruiting young people into the programme, providing trainees with any additional support they need and delivering workshops around CV writing, goal-setting and working as a team.
Zephyr is dedicated to community development and cares deeply for the environment. She has worked with a number of local charitable organisations in Bristol and has recently joined our team as a Volunteer Coordinator to support the journey our amazing volunteers, ensuring they are looked after and feel empowered across both our Bristol warehouses.
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.
Rachel started as our Volunteer Coordinator in Plymouth, and has moved into the role of Membership Account Manager. She looks after our charity members, ensuring they receive the right foods and get the best possible service from us. She bakes cakes to enhance the happiness levels throughout the team!
Charles initially joined us as a volunteer for Operation Re-Act – a key partner of FareShare South West. Today, he’s a full-time member of staff and an integral part of the team. Charles oversees all warehouse operations in Plymouth, including managing incoming goods, storage and inventory control as well as dispatching goods to Community Food Members and managing our team of volunteers.
Tessa works with the Head of Region and local warehouse team to coordinate the recruitment, retention, and development of volunteers to support the warehouse programme. She looks after the wellbeing of volunteers and supports them during shifts and whenever needed. She cooks up amazing lunches!
Ashley has been with us since the inception of our Plymouth warehouse, initially joining as a volunteer to help ensure that good food reaches those in need across Devon and Cornwall. Today, he holds the role of a full-time Warehouse Supervisor and is a valued member of our team. He is jointly responsible for operations including incoming deliveries of food; logging them on our system; van coordination and efficient stocktaking practices across the site to maximise the food that reaches the projects we work with.
John started at FareShare South West as one of the very first volunteers in our Plymouth warehouse. Having dedicated hundreds of hours of time to the organisation, John decided to make it official and accepted a role as Warehouse Supervisor. He works with the volunteers to keep operations running smoothly, and is jointly responsible for operations including incoming deliveries of food; logging them on our system; van coordination and efficient stocktaking practices across the site to maximise the food that reaches projects in Devon and Cornwall.
Sam first joined us as a regular volunteer in our Plymouth warehouse, and we were all thrilled when he made the transition to a member of staff. As Warehouse Supervisor, he is jointly responsible for operations including incoming deliveries of food; logging them on our system; van coordination and efficient stocktaking practices across the site to maximise the food that reaches projects in Devon and Cornwall.
Andy Street is a founder and Chair of FareShare South West. In parallel with a successful career as an environmental consultant and international waste management specialist (one of the five founding Directors of global consultancy SLR) Andrew has in recent years increasingly become involved in charity work and social enterprise / business in Bristol, and also actively supporting microfinance and social investment in the developing world.
In addition to his commitment to FSSW, Andy chairs and is involved in a number of other community based activities in Bristol, including FSSW member Crisis Centre Ministries and the Feeding Bristol initiative.
Andrew is an active member of Woodlands Church in Bristol, and passionate about putting his faith into action. His interests include travel, photography and hiking, and he has always enjoyed all sports.
Claire Burden leads the Advisory Consulting practice at the professional services and investment management firm Evelyn Partners. As part of this work, she leads pro bono charity projects and has a particular focus on social inequality. Claire joined FareShare South West to help more people by increasing food delivery volumes. She wants to raise awareness in the corporate world to bolster support for this amazing charity.
Claire lives in Bristol. Her three children keep her busy, but she makes sure to find time for her love of cold water swimming, camping and generally being outdoors.
I have been an accountant since 2017 when I joined Evelyn Partners fresh out school. There was a brief gap where I tried university but realised quickly it wasn’t for me and I wanted to get going straight away in my career. After 5 years, I became fully qualified as an ACCA Chartered accountant and promoted to the management team. Living in a post-exam world, I am keen to contribute more to the area I have lived in all my life as well as being able to use what I have learnt (and continue to!) in my day job to those who benefit therefore FareShare South West sounded like the perfect opportunity and I am very excited to join the board.
Paul has a varied background in retail, IT and the voluntary sector. He is married, with three grown-up children, and came to Bristol in 1999.
While leading Crisis Centre Ministries (a homeless charity, now called ‘InHope’), Paul became aware of the need to use and coordinate distribution of unwanted food. FareShare came to Bristol in 2001 and held a public meeting; immediately following this, Paul established a group to explore the possibility of setting up a FareShare franchise in Bristol. It took over 5 years of work by a large group of people, but eventually FareShare South West started operating in 2007.
Paul was a trustee at Voscur for 12 years, serving as Treasurer, Vice-Chair and Chair at various times. Amongst other things, he also set up the Bristol Homeless Forum and Christian Action Bristol, and guided Bristol City of Sanctuary through the process of charity registration. Paul currently advises charities and voluntary sector groups on a range of topics, including GDPR and governance, and is involved with several other projects aimed at reducing social isolation and connecting people.
Co-Founder and Managing Director of Pieminister, Tristan Hogg joined Fareshare South West as a Trustee in 2021. Tristan and the team at Pieminister are working to support a more sustainable food system in the UK, significantly reducing food waste and donating surplus pies to good causes. Between 2014 and 2020 they donated over 150,000 pies to FareShare South West alone. This initiative is one of many that Pieminister has undertaken as part of a series of sustainability goals which include a 10% increase in charitable support year on year and a 50% reduction of food waste across the business by 2025.
Jo Ingleby is the director of The Children’s Kitchen which is a Feeding Bristol project bringing food and growing to children and families, from early years up, in areas of food insecurity. The project encourages children and FOOD Club members to explore and cook with Fareshare South West fresh produce every week. Jo is a chef, food educator and keen grower who was awarded the BBC Cook of the Year award in 2015.
Alan has been company secretary of FareShare South West since its establishment in Bristol in 2007.
He is a consultant at the Bristol office of international law firm Osborne Clarke, having previously for many years lead the firm’s environment and energy group. His legal specialism (and passion) is advising on renewable energy and wider climate change, sustainability and decarbonisation challenges and opportunities.
He is a director of Regen SW, the independent centre of sustainable energy expertise based in the South West of England that promotes the transition to a smart low-carbon energy system. He has also for many years been a member of and served in leadership roles at Holy Trinity Church in Hotwells, Bristol.
Eileen has been involved with FareShare South West since we first started operating in Bristol, back in 2007. We have moved warehouse and come a long way in many other ways since then.
She was one of the first volunteers, initially acting as “girl Friday” to the manager, when there were only the two of us – one volunteer and one member of staff, Suzie. Then she became the Volunteer Co-ordinator, recruiting and inducting around 200 volunteers over the next two or three years.
She then joined the Board as volunteer adviser, and eventually trustee. Over the years, she has continued volunteering in the office and generally keeping up with the growth and development of this brilliant charity, which helps fight hunger, helps reduce food waste, and helps people by volunteering with us.
The future looks rosy, and the more food, community food members and of course volunteers, the better.
That’s enough for seven billion meals
✨We're hiring! ✨
Are you passionate about supporting young people to thrive and overcome societal barriers?
Apply to our Employability Programme Lead position before Monday 27 November: https://faresharesouthwest.org.uk/careers/
#bristoljobs #charityjobs #employability #youthemployability
Get your hands on one of these limited edition @WiperAndTrue t-shirts and raise money for FareShare South West😍
