NFU Mutual Charitable Trust to help rescue 2 million meals in 2 years

We’ve been supporting local communities on the issues that matter most for over a century – it’s part of what we do. One particularly important issue many people are facing, especially in recent times, is the cost of living.

The NFU Mutual Charitable Trust is one of the main ways we provide donations to national charities, and its work forms part of our charitable giving pledge to support our customers and their communities. The NFU Mutual Charitable Trust has been a long -standing supported FareShare, donating a total of £500,000 to the charity since 2021 to help redistribute the equivalent of 1.7 million meals worth of nutritious, good-to-eat food to local charities and community groups throughout the UK.

Our support for FareShare in 2026 and 2027

After several years of fruitful collaboration, the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust and FareShare are proud to announce a new £150,000 partnership for over the next two years. This funding will enable FareShare*, the UK’s leading food redistribution charity, to deliver 857 tonnes of surplus food, to local charities and community groups throughout the UK. That’s the equivalent of 2.04 million meals worth of nutritious, good-to-eat food going to people facing food poverty.

The funding will be directed to support the transportation of surplus food from nearly 700 food partners to hubs around the UK, where it will be sorted and delivered to over 8,000 local charities and community groups. Contributing to FareShare’s National Logistics Project will ensure that good-to-eat surplus food that would otherwise be wasted is transported quickly, efficiently and safely to the communities around the country where it is needed most. 

A total of 425 of these communities are in rural Local Authority Districts, where it is often more difficult for residents to access a varied, nutritious diet. Funding from the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust will support FareShare to increase rural food provision by an estimated 10% in 2026, and a further 10% in 2027. By 2027, FareShare and the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust will be reaching just under 100,000 people in rural areas with nutritious surplus food. 

Working together:

We’re passionate about being an active supporter, and have championed FareShare on a practical level, too. Through our close ties with the UK farming sector, we have helped to raise awareness about FareShare’s work and mission, helping to connect the charity with new sources of surplus food from farms and rural businesses. (You can find out more about FareShare’s Surplus With Purpose Scheme below.)  We’ll keep this support going. 

Our staff members have also volunteered their time to help at FareShare’s distribution centres and with food collections.  We’re so grateful for the help given by our people, and volunteering will be crucial to our new partnership, providing our employees with deeper insights into how FareShare reduces food waste and strengthens communities, further enhancing the close partnership between our two organisations.

Paul Amadi, Executive Director of Income Generation at FareShare and The Felix Project, said: “We are so grateful to the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust for supporting us in this two-year programme. Every day, FareShare and The Felix Project rescue enough surplus food for hundreds of thousands of meals for people in need. Our partnership with the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust will be crucial to ensuring that this food reaches community centres, schools, lunch clubs and refuges around the country in good time. This food helps support millions of people who are experiencing food insecurity.”

Nick Turner, Group Chief Executive at NFU Mutual, said: “We understand the unique challenges faced by people living and working in the rural communities, and NFU Mutual is dedicated to addressing these through meaningful, long-term support. Through our new partnership with FareShare, we’re proud to play our part to ensure surplus good food reaches the communities that need it most, including those in remote and rural areas.”

How businesses across the food supply chain are donating their surplus for good

Farms and rural businesses throughout the UK are also doing their bit to help. They can participate through FareShare’s Surplus with Purpose scheme, which helps businesses to cover the extra costs of redistributing their unsold food.

The scheme avoids thousands of tonnes of surplus fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and dairy products being wasted. Even cupboard items and chilled and frozen foods find a new home.

One grower making the most of the opportunity presented by the scheme is Southern England Farms, based in Hayle, West Cornwall. The business works over 6,500 acres and is a key supplier to several major retailers in the UK, including a number of supermarkets, of Cornish-grown courgettes, cauliflower, broccoli, spring greens, sweetheart and savoy cabbage. Co-owner Jane Richards (pictured), along with her 400 plus pickers, works with FareShare to ensure any excess vegetables never go to waste. Since 2019, they have donated 738 tonnes of excess produce to the charity.

Jane says: “The scheme with FareShare is a brilliant way of ensuring excess produce is redistributed to those who really need it. It is so very rewarding when we find out how many meals our surplus veg has gone on to make. It is great that NFU Mutual has embraced the scheme so wholeheartedly and supports their customers who wish to participate with ‘Surplus with Purpose’ too.”

Join over 700 other food businesses fight food poverty

Diverting your surplus food to frontline charities is easier than you think. Your business could be eligible for funding to help you reduce your food waste. FareShare’s ‘surplus with purpose’ fund contributes to the cost of harvest or transporting surplus food. What’s more, FareShare can help your business identify surplus food that could be redirected to charities.

To find out more about FareShare’s Surplus with Purpose scheme, and how you can participate, visit: fareshare.org.uk

To explore more about the NFU Mutual Charitable Trust please visit our main information page.

*In September 2025 it was announced that FareShare would merge with The Felix Project, to create a bigger and more ambitious organisation with greater national impact.  A new brand identity for the merged charities will be launched later in the year.