Written by Rachel Martin
Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) has donated a whopping 1.4t donation of chicken to food banks, school breakfast clubs and homeless shelters to help with their response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The meat, which included 600kg of whole chicken, 250kg of chicken legs and 615kg of chicken breasts, was donated by SRUC from its carcass evaluation unit on the Auchincruive Estate in South Ayrshire.
The chicken was donated to FareShare – a charity which aims to relieve food poverty and reduce food waste in the UK by redistributing nutritious, in-date and safe to eat food.
Every week it donates food to 11,000 frontline charities and community groups across the UK – enough food to create almost a million meals for vulnerable people.
SRUC’s donation went to more than 100 charity and community groups across Glasgow and the West of Scotland including hostels, day centres, lunch clubs, addiction agencies, young people’s projects and refugee centres.
Colin MacEwan, director of commercialisation and innovation at SRUC, said: “At this difficult time, SRUC is doing all it can to support and help the community through the wide range of mechanisms it has at its disposal including accommodation, labs, skills and products.
“We were put in touch with FareShare through the Trussell Trust which manages foodbanks nationally and have donated 1.4t of chicken to frontline charities at this crucial time when the supply of safe, nutritious food to vulnerable people is at risk.”
Teresa McGoldrick, food officer at FareShare Scotland, said: “The team at FareShare Glasgow and the West of Scotland is enormously grateful for the donation of high-quality chicken from Scotland’s Rural College.
“This food will be hugely welcomed by the hundreds of community organisations we serve supporting the elderly and vulnerable at home during this very difficult time.
“That is the amazing difference this donation and others make to the lives of people in our communities.”
SRUC is also working with local councils and other organisations to support those in need by providing emergency accommodation within student halls.
The university is also using its labs to offer additional Covid-19 testing, putting staff forward for volunteering roles, and identifying personal protective equipment (PPE) that can be returned for use in the community.
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