FareShare Midlands is pleased to support today’s announcement of the merger between the UK’s two largest food redistribution charities – FareShare and The Felix Project, in a fresh bid to tackle the scale of food waste and address the effects of food insecurity.

FareShare Midlands is one of FareShare’s 17 independent regional partners, including The Felix Project in London, working together with the food industry to rescue good-to-eat surplus food and get it to over 8,000 charities nationwide. In 2024/25, this network helped provide the equivalent of 148m meals. 

This merger comes at a time of urgent need. Each year, the UK wastes 10.7 million tonnes of food, while 14% of households live with food insecurity. With demand rising and eight in ten charities fearing they cannot keep up, combining forces now will support rescuing more food, cutting more waste and reaching more people. 

Coming Together to Fight Food Waste and Insecurity

FareShare and The Felix Project are uniting to form a bigger and more ambitious organisation with greater national impact. By combining FareShare’s 30 years of nationwide reach and strategic partnerships with Felix’s innovation and London expertise, they will be able to pool resources, create more collaborative and efficient ways of working and be part of a stronger, joined-up solution to tackling food waste across the UK. 

The merger will also give the two charities a stronger voice when it comes to campaigning and influencing national policy on food waste and food insecurity. This was demonstrated by the success of their award-winning joint campaign for a national £15m fund to tackle food surplus on farms. 

Established Charities Building a Stronger Future

Founded over 30 years ago, FareShare has grown into the UK’s leading national food redistribution charity. Working hand in hand with thousands of local charities and volunteers, FareShare has shown how surplus food can be turned into a force for good, strengthening communities, reducing isolation and improving wellbeing. Independent research shows that for every £1 donated, FareShare and its partners create £13 of social and economic value. 

The Felix Project was started in 2016 by Justin and Jane Byam Shaw in memory of their son Felix.  It has four depots in North, South, East and West London, which currently support around 1,200 community organisations. It also operates Felix’s Kitchen, which uses surplus food to cook around 5,000 nutritious meals every day. It has been working with FareShare as its London delivery partner since 2020. 

FareShare’s network, including FareShare Midlands, helps get good food to over a million people every year via these community organisations, but this is barely scratching the surface when it comes to the need. Demand is rising, and 8 in 10 of the charities they support fear they cannot keep up. This merger will help unlock more food, cut food waste and strengthen communities when they need it most.  

The new charity will adopt the Felix name, with a refreshed brand identity introduced gradually as part of a phased transition, including a period of dual branding.

FareShare Midlands' CEO, Simone Connolly said: “This is a hugely exciting time for all of us in the FareShare network. FareShare UK and The Felix Project have worked closely for many years and now is the right time to bring the two organisations together. As one united organisation, the focus will be doing even more to ensure that good food gets to people who need it across the UK instead of being wasted. FareShare Midlands is proud to be part of the network responsible for reaching over a million people every year. By working together, we support families, older people and those facing hardship, strengthening communities in almost every part of the country. We look forward to supporting the transition and working in partnership with our colleagues.”

Charlotte Hill OBE, who has led The Felix Project to significant growth over the last three years, will be Chief Executive of the new organisation. She said: “Our vision is a nation where no good food is wasted and nobody goes hungry. Bringing together brilliant colleagues, volunteers and partners from both organisations gives us an unprecedented opportunity to scale up food provision for the UK’s most vulnerable communities.” 

Kris Gibbon-Walsh, currently the CEO of FareShare, will bring his extensive experience in the food industry to his new role as Deputy Chief Executive. Having started as a volunteer over a decade ago, he has since led major innovations, including the launch of FareShare Go, championed the redistribution of surplus food from farms, and overseen a period of record-breaking growth. He said: “This merger will enable us do so much more to tackle food waste at source, whilst we continue to support our brilliant independent network partners through increased food volumes, funding and operational support. We will also build on FareShare’s 30-year legacy of connecting good food with communities nationwide.” 

For more information, please contact communications@faresharemidlands.org.uk