Redrow founder Steve Morgan donates £890k to King’s Coronation Food Project

Steve Morgan, founder and former boss of North West housebuilding giant Redrow, has today (January 23) pledged £890,000 to the Coronation Food Project, covering Merseyside and North Wales.

Liverpool-born Morgan has made the donation through his Steve Morgan Foundation organisation, one of the UK’s largest grant-giving charities.

The Coronation Food Project, inspired by King Charles III, aims to bridge the gap between food waste and food poverty.

The funding will go directly to the new Coronation Food Hub in Liverpool operated by FareShare, the UK’s biggest food redistribution charity, and will fund 50% of the running costs of the Hub for three years.

The money, along with donations from other supporters, will be used to double the existing warehouse capacity in the Speke facility and to develop a training kitchen which will also act as a decanting kitchen allowing FareShare to make the most of donated fresh ingredients and help to deliver ‘ready meals’ where needed.

The donation will also fund three new members of staff and purchase five additional vans. All of this will improve the resources and efficiency of the food being received and distributed and will assist with the expansion plans to reach more communities in need.

With 140 community groups on the waiting list for surplus food, the funding will also help FareShare to begin providing food to two new groups per week and provide additional support directly to those in need.

Other benefits of the funding include creating sustainable career opportunities, as volunteer staff will be given the chance to gain professional qualifications in the roles they undertake at the distribution centre.

George Wright, CEO of FareShare, said: “We are enormously grateful to the Steve Morgan Foundation for such a generous contribution, which will kick-start the new Coronation Food Hub in Merseyside.

“Since its launch in November, the Coronation Food Project has brought together partners from across the food industry and beyond, to collaborate on new ways to address food insecurity and reduce food waste. The support the project has received to date has been incredible, with this landmark project already generating significantly more food for the 8,500 charities within our network, delivering millions more meals.”

He added: “This launch of the first Coronation Food Hub will be instrumental in getting food that might otherwise have gone to waste, to more communities, more efficiently. This support will be transformative for surplus food redistribution in Merseyside and beyond.

“It will not only help us reach more charities and community groups, from afterschool and breakfast clubs to hospices and homelessness charities, but allow us to deliver additional benefits to support people in need.”

Established in 2001, the Steve Morgan Foundation works with national, regional and local charities to change lives for good by targeting the root causes of poverty and deprivation. In addition to the financial support for the Coronation Food Hub, the foundation will work closely with FareShare and the community groups to provide on-the-ground knowledge and expertise.

Steve Morgan, chairman of the Steve Morgan Foundation, said: “We recognise that collaborations such as these between funders, delivery partners and community groups are essential to not only improving food distribution but to tackling the root causes of poverty and deprivation.

“Getting surplus food to hungry people is not easy and, despite best intentions, does not always work on the ground. Having grown up in the area served by the facility and from working with hundreds of local community groups, I know first hand the challenges faced by families in our region.”

He added: “We are looking forward to working closely with FareShare to bring this powerful partnership to life and tackle the very real and daunting need in our communities.”

The Coronation Food Project initiative is being led by Dame Martina Milburn and Baroness Louise Casey and is coordinated by the King Charles III Charitable Fund, with Dori Dana-Haeri leading the fundraising appeal as chair of the Project’s Development Committee.

Dame Martina Milburn said: “Since the Coronation Food Project was launched by The King and Queen last year, we’ve been seeking support from partners who share our mission to reduce food waste and tackle food poverty.

“I am so delighted that the Steve Morgan Foundation has stepped forward to fund the new Coronation Food Hub in Merseyside. This is going to make a transformational difference in the area – helping to rescue tonnes more surplus food and circulate it to communities in great need.”

Dori Dana-Haeri said: “I was astonished by the scale of both food waste and food poverty in the UK, so I wanted to do something practical to help and I am delighted to be volunteering for the Coronation Food Project. We need more philanthropic leaders, like Steve Morgan, to step forward and support this crucial work.”