Charitable giving

Gist & FareShare

FareShare is a national network that redistributes surplus food to homeless and vulnerable people around the UK.

Food that is nearing its expiry date is delivered to the FareShare depots from retailers such as Marks & Spencer. Volunteers at the depots then sort, grade and refrigerate the food and deliver to day centres the following day. Money saved on food is then used to provide other support services such as training, medical services and counselling to help people start to rebuild their lives.

Partnerships with retailers diverts tonnes of food away from landfill every year and gives around 6000 homeless and vulnerable people access to a healthier diet - over 1.2 million meals are made from food received from FareShare every year.

There is a natural fit between Gist and FareShare because we already work together out of our M&S food sites. The drivers at those locations transport short shelf-life food from the sites to the FareShare depots.

Through our Consulting Services team we have looked at FareShare’s supply chain to see what improvements/efficiencies could be made.

British Humanitarian Aid

British Humanitarian Aid is a charitable organisation that organises aid convoys to the Ukraine to help the local communities and orphanages.

Gist co-ordinates support for the charity through employee donations of money, clothing and other items. Gist also donates the use of warehouse space and vehicles to make the trips to the Ukraine, and we support several of our drivers, who take the aid to the orphanages in Chernihiv, Ukraine.

School visits

Visits are made to schools with primary children to educate them on the hazards associated with HGVs (heavy goods vehicles). This involves Gist employees taking a vehicle to the school and allowing the children to see for themselves the various blind spots. The visit ends with a demonstration by driving over a bicycle so the children can see first hand the potential impact.

Computer Aid

Gist also works with Computer Aid International, the world's largest non-profit provider of PCs to schools and community organisations in developing countries to dispose of redundant ICT equipment. All Gist’s end-of-life PCs, with a Pentium 2 processor or more, are donated for refurbishment and reuse in schools and communities in the developing world.