Over 30 of TEP’s staff are about to embark on a 16-week training programme that will culminate in each of them walking 40,000 steps in the same weekend and covering a combined distance of over 600 miles. That is the equivalent of walking between each of our offices (From Gateshead to Warrington, to Market Harborough, to London and then to Cornwall).
Even though this is excellent cardio, they aren’t just doing this for their health. In fact, they are doing it to raise vital funds for FareShare, our charity of the year. FareShare was established 25 years ago and is the UK’s longest running food redistribution charity. Their core belief is that no good food should go to waste, especially when people are going hungry. Hundreds of thousands of tonnes of good food are wasted by the UK food industry every year, whilst millions of people are struggling to feed themselves. FareShare addresses this by redistributing food industry surplus that would otherwise go to waste. Last year was FareShare’s biggest year to date, with a huge increase in the number of community groups benefiting from their service. The number of charities that they support increased to 10,962 and the number of people accessing FareShare food each week rose to 933,178. The food they redistributed contributed towards 57.3 million meals and saved the charity sector £14.1 million.
To support the fantastic work that FareShare does and to help them reach as many people as possible, our staff have set themselves a challenge that will test their limits. On the 19th and 20th February, our willing volunteers will be taking part in a sponsored walk. We have also set ourselves a fundraising target of raising £2,500, which TEP will very kindly match if we manage to reach. We will be sharing all the highs and lows of our training, so please follow our progress over the next 16 weeks and if you are able, please sponsor our staff. It will definitely give them that extra little boost of encouragement, especially whilst the weather is so wet and windy!
For every pound that is donated, four people will get a meal. So, if you would like to support our staff in their challenge and help them reach their goal, you can donate by visiting our JustGiving page here.
Thank you to all our staff taking part and good luck!
