Social enterprise FoodCloud Hubs and the Department of Employment Affairs & Social Protection are now working together to provide food to the most deprived in Ireland.
SOCIAL enterprise FoodCloud Hubs and the Department of Employment Affairs & Social Protection are now working together to provide food to the most deprived in Ireland.
The European funded FEAD Programme (Fund for European Aid to most Deprived) assists long term rough sleepers and homeless, children in low income households, victims of domestic violence in shelters and refuges and many other vulnerable people in our society.
The addition of the FEAD programme has been described as fantastic by Eimear Delahunty of FoodCloud Cork, for their 50 partner charities.
‘They now have a supply of store-cupboard items such as tea and rice that are a perfect addition to their surplus products. This has had huge benefits for their organisations both in terms of savings and services delivered,’ she said.
Welcoming the collaboration, Deirdre Clune MEP for Ireland South, recently visited the FoodCloud Hub in Cork to see how the programme was progressing.
‘The FoodCloud and FoodCloud Hub models have proven to work incredibly well in managing food surplus and unsold food between retailers, the food industry and local charities. Now, thanks to EU funding, the FEAD programme provides non-perishable food to those most in need in a very structured and sustained way. Given the tonnes of food waste in Ireland alone, this programme is a win-win,’ said Ms Clune.
Through FEAD, FoodCloud Hubs are responsible for procurement, storage and distribution of the non-perishable goods, such as breakfast cereals, porridge, soups, pasta and rice, canned vegetables among others.
The foodstuffs are then provided to eligible organisations based on a regular, specified food collection schedule.
For more information on how to apply for FEAD visit https://food.cloud/fead/