Last Wednesday, Nick Shepherd and Deb Sullivan from the GM Business Growth Hub BD and Partnerships Team joined forces with the Hub’s Trafford Stakeholder Account Manager, Amy Pasicznyk, for a volunteering shift at The Bread and Butter Thing in Trafford Park.
TBBT’s mission is to unleash the power of food and ignite long-lasting change in struggling neighbourhoods across the UK. They change lives and give a voice to the people who use them – their members.
The Bread and Butter Club’s mobile food clubs give access to nutritious and affordable food taken into the heart of communities starved of money, food and resources. This low-cost weekly shop provides essential produce for family eating, but that’s just the beginning…
Our team was warmly welcomed to the warehouse by TBBT’s Food Supply Coordinator, Justin Pritchard, whose passion for the cause shone through as he explained how the organisation works and how it offers many different types of support.
Justin talked about how every week the organisation changes lives:
- They improve diets with a diverse variety of healthy produce and products
- Their communities gather to manage the distribution of food, building friendships, skills and connections
- They diminish loneliness and reduce the stress of stretched finances
- They bring in external partners to offer bespoke and tailored support
- They listen and learn, building understanding of the issues facing their members, and giving voice to their stories, amplifying them and affecting change at a local and national level
The Bread and Butter Thing is determined to do its bit to reduce food waste in the UK, while at the same time ensuring that surplus food goes to the people who need it the most.
During his intro, Justin revealed the terrifying scale of the problem. The annual food waste within UK households, hospitality and food service, food manufacture, retail and wholesale sectors in 2015 was estimated at around 9.5 million tonnes. This had an equivalent value of £19 billion per year.
TBBT work closely with their suppliers to encourage and help them to donate their surplus food safely and effectively, which they then redistribute to their network of members, via their food hubs and partners. They look closely at their suppliers’ business and supply chains, providing them with advice and a reliable service to redistribute their surpluses saving them money, time and resources in the process. Their suppliers also receive regular feedback on their goods and the social impact they are having within the community.
They also work with partners offering all kinds of expert advice and practical solutions to problems including debt, energy, digital exclusion, income maximisation and more.
Our team, made up of Hub staff, BGH Alumni and staff from other organisations, had a fantastic time, learning about the organisation and how it supports thousands of families each week in over 124 community locations. They can’t recommend the experience highly enough and were so happy that they got to play even in a small part in TBBT’s work.
TBBT is always looking for volunteers. If you have some remaining Volunteering Days and would like to give back to the community while meeting lovely new people, then you can read more about the organisation and its work on their website: The Bread and Butter Thing