BRUCE STEVENSON RAISES £11,000 FOR FARESHARE SCOTLAND

Founding UNA Member and one of Scotland’s largest independent insurance brokers, Bruce Stevenson has raised over £11,000 for its chosen charity, FareShare Scotland.

With over 90 staff across offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and the Borders, Bruce Stevenson Insurance Brokers committed to donating 2% of its annual profits in 2017 to FareShare Scotland. Alongside this, Bruce Stevenson staff have undertaken a variety of fundraising activities including a 72-mile charity cycle, led by their Corporate Ambassador, Mark Beaumont.

FareShare Scotland collects good quality, in date surplus food from retailers and producers then redistributes it to more than 476 charities and community groups to improve the lives of vulnerable people in Scotland. The food is transformed into nourishing meals for those in women’s refuges, homeless shelters and breakfast clubs for disadvantaged children.

The charity is now reaching an average of 38,590 people per week. There are four regional centres across Scotland in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen. Each of these centres is run with a regionally based delivery partner, with the depot providing a centre for working with young people or support volunteers. The delivery partners also offer additional assistance in the form of employability training, mentoring and emotional support. In 2017, FareShare supported 6,273 frontline charities providing 28.6 million meals across the UK.

Edward Bruce, CEO of Bruce Stevenson Insurance Brokers, said: “..In 2017, we decided to focus our fundraising efforts on one dedicated charity, which was when we partnered with FareShare. There are families in our local communities who are going hungry on a nightly basis and the reality is that there are incredible levels of wastage with food products.
“Our teams have worked hard this year to raise funds to support FareShare’s positive impact. From baking to cycling and running half marathons, it’s been fantastic to see how much effort everyone has put in to help contribute to FareShare’s incredible work.
“The charity really is making a difference to so many lives across the country by working with communities, charities and businesses to deliver resources where they’re vitally needed.”

Gillian Kynoch, Head of FareShare in Scotland, said: “..FareShare in Scotland is enormously grateful to Bruce Stevenson and their staff for their very generous support and effort on our behalf. We are experiencing ever-increasing demand from charities across Scotland. These front line charities and community groups provide a safety net for some of the most vulnerable people in our society. Last year we redistributed nearly 2000 tonnes of surplus food; providing four million meals in Scotland. We hope to invest this funding into additional chiller and freezer capacity to help us redistribute even more food in 2018.”
The decision to appoint FareShare Scotland as its dedicated charity underlines the broker’s commitment to support good causes in local communities.

For more information on FareShare Scotland, please visit www.fareshare.org.uk or visit www.brucestevenson.co.uk.