‘Hairy Biker’ Simon King helps Tyneside Cyrenians launch ‘FareShare’ in the North East

‘FareShare Tyneside; a social solution to an environmental problem’

22 April 2008

Newcastle upon Tyne - Tuesday, 22 April 2008 ‘Hairy Biker’, Simon King, will tomorrow, Wednesday 23 April, launch Tyneside Cyrenians’ latest venture in support of vulnerable and disadvantaged people in the region.

Working in conjunction with FareShare, the national charity which takes surplus food from producers and suppliers within the food industry, Tyneside Cyrenians will redistribute food to those most in need within local communities in Newcastle, Gateshead and North Tyneside. The new venture will be called FareShare Tyneside and is one of ten UK franchises.

Simon King - cook, TV personality and co-author of The Hairy Bikers Cookbook - will be guest of honour at the launch. Well-known for his popular TV series ‘The Hairy Bikers’, Si has travelled the world from his home in Tyneside with fellow biker Dave Myers in his quest for authentic culinary and cultural experiences. Si explained that his passion for food and for sharing was kindled by his father:

‘My Dad died when I was young, yet I vividly remember as a child of six helping him. We visited the Little Sisters of the Poor in Low Fell to deliver van loads of wonderful food. Armfuls of turkeys, sacks of onions and trays and trays of eggs stand out in my mind! We weren’t rich by any means but we were comfortable and he was incredibly generous.

‘My Dad’s philosophy was quite simple ‘if you have enough – you should try to share’. I believe that view is more important today than ever before. As a society we’ve fallen into the habit of consuming for its own sake – I really believe that by respecting what we eat and the amount we eat we benefit both ourselves and society as a whole.’

Also at the launch, Tony Lowe, Chief Executive of FareShare National, explained the principles of FareShare and the problems of surplus and waste food in the UK:

“Without FareShare the good quality food here today and the many tonnes that will be delivered here over the coming months would have been destroyed probably as landfill. Instead the food will be now be redistributed to charities who will turn it into nutritious meals for some of the most vulnerable people in the local community.

‘FareShare provides this unique social solution to an environmental problem and we are really excited to be working in partnership with Tyneside Cyrenians. The organisation has an excellent reputation and is well known for its innovative approach and for getting things done. Our partnership will enable us to help vulnerable people in and around Newcastle by providing them with access to good quality food.’
Commenting on the new venture, Stephen Bell, Chief Executive of Tyneside Cyrenians said:

‘FareShare Tyneside is a tremendous addition to the range of services we offer. The service itself supportive of vulnerable people and the operation of it will provide additional employment
opportunities from within for rehabilitation and re-integration into the workplace.

‘We are grateful to all those who have supported this venture, in particular Newcastle Neighbourhood Renewal Fund who provided initial start up funding for the Project. ‘I am particularly delighted to welcome Paul Lewney from Kavli here today. As food manufacturers and distributors they have a very enlightened approach and we are looking forward to working with them in the future.’

Paul Lewney, Deputy Managing Director of Kavli continued:

‘Food manufacturing involves a careful balance between high quality, health and safety and customer service. Because some of the products we make are fresh products with a relatively short shelf life, balancing supply with demand is critical and we have to build a margin of error into our planning to ensure orders are met in full and on time.

‘It is inevitable that from time to time we have an imbalance and we are delighted to be working with FareShare put these occasional surpluses to good use. The concept is excellent, we believe will be of real value here in the North East and wish success to everyone involved.’

In 2007, FareShare nationally saved over 2,000 tonnes from being wasted, helping business reduced C02 emissions by 13,000 tonnes. This food was then redistributed, along with other food related support services, to a community food network of 300 organisations. This food contributed to over 3.3 million meals each year –that is 20,000 disadvantaged people each day in cities and towns across the UK.

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