Congratulations go to Sean Gibbons, MD of Food AWARE CIC, who is a successful award winner for the Level 2 Millennium Awards with Unltd
25th January 2011
Sean attended the Awards Celebration in London to make his elevator pitch to a number of influential guests.
He stated:
"I spoke to some really tuned-in people yesterday who can help us in many ways. I met the first ever Apprentice winner, Tim Campbell, who will be exploring how his social enterprise foundation, Bright Ideas Trust, can help us with a number of things, in particular raising social capital.”
Sean added:
“2011 is going to be a very exciting year for Food AWARE and partners!”
The Team at Unltd believe:
“There are thousands of people who have the ideas and the vision to make a real difference, but just need encouragement and support, contact with others just like them and access to training to help them grow and give their projects the best chance of success.“ (www.unltd.org.uk)
This Award means that Sean will receive a further 12 months’ support from the UnLtd network for Food AWARE CIC that will include: pro-bono support, mentoring, funding, business planning, marketing, PR, key contacts and collaborative working opportunities.
UnLtd award approximately 25 ‘Level 2’ awards once every six months to exceptional social entrepreneurs in the UK, who are looking to take their social ventures to the next level. Applications are open twice a year. They are always looking for inspirational individuals to support, who must have a proven track record of social impact and financial growth, as well as a clearly defined vision for the future.
They seek those entrepreneurs with the ambition, determination and drive to really deliver their vision. (www.unltd.org.uk)
Food AWARE focuses on diverting surplus food from landfill and redistributing it across needy communities. In addition, they provide education and training around food issues. This project addresses two very serious and very connected social problems – Food Poverty and Food Waste.
Food AWARE provides a weekly delivery of surplus and fresh 5-a-day produce to organisations in disadvantaged areas, in partnership with organisations such as the NHS. By providing regular fresh food, this encourages healthier eating amongst residents and links in with many other initiatives e.g. tackling obesity, improving mental health, community cohesion etc.
Food AWARE has seen significant project growth since they launched operations, which has enabled them to support more people.
Impact includes:
- Tonnage of food redistributed averages 3-5 tonnes per week
- Number of beneficiaries are c.750 every week
- Number of Jobs Created: three current staff plus one apprenticeship (now moved onto a permanent-contract (DMBC apprenticeship)
- Surplus food donated by major suppliers e.g. Sainsbury’s, Factory Foods, KP Nuts, Boots, International Produce (Wall Mart), etc
- Key partner of the national Love Food Hate Waste campaign e.g. helped feed 1,000 students at Hull University in September 2010 with surplus food and educated them on how to reduce food waste
Sean set up Food AWARE because food waste is something he gets very upset about. It annoys him that so much food is wasted each day yet people do not eat enough healthy foods.
Sean wants to change the model of food waste management in the UK by working across the public, private and third sectors and significantly reduce the circa £24billion food waste bill in the UK every year.
