Fareshare Yorkshire

About FareShare Yorkshire

FareShare Yorkshire is a regional arm of the national FareShare network, a charity dedicated to reducing food waste and tackling food poverty.

For 27 years, the charity has redistributed high-quality surplus from the food industry to frontline charities and community groups across Yorkshire, so they can give it to those who need it the most. Every week, the FareShare network provides enough food to create almost a million meals for vulnerable people.

FareShare Yorkshire scaled its operations significantly as demand surged through the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis.  This rapid expansion of their temperature-controlled van fleet was critical so that it could serve over 400 charities, including school breakfast clubs, older people’s lunch clubs, homeless shelters, refuges and community centres.

The Challenge

Operating across a vast region with limited resources, FareShare Yorkshire faced critical logistical challenges.

With fresh and chilled food often arriving with short shelf lives, the ability to quickly and safely distribute food was essential.  Any downtime in their fleet of 12 vehicles – including 10 vans and two 7.5-tonne lorries – could mean

• Wasted food (millions of meals lost annually).

• Missed deliveries to charities relying on timely support.

• Increased strain on community organisations already stretched thin.

Why CoolKit?

FareShare chose CoolKit as both their van conversion specialist and ongoing aftersales support partner for several reasons:

• Quality conversions: 8 of the charity’s 12 vehicles have been converted by CoolKit, designed for dependable chilled and frozen transport, with all 12 serviced by CoolKit.

• Speed and efficiency: CoolKit delivered rapid turnaround times for both conversions and repairs.

• Charity-focused service: CoolKit understood the operational pressures unique to FareShare and tailored their response accordingly.

To support FareShare in its mission, each year, CoolKit donates 1% of FareShare’s net spend on new vehicle orders back to the charity, totalling £11,000 last year.  This helps to fund its vital food distribution work.

Aftersales Service That Makes the Difference

The standout in this partnership is CoolKit’s aftersales support.  According to FareShare Yorkshire’s CEO Jonathan Williams, this support is nothing short of ‘mission critical’ for the charity.

Key Aftersales Benefits:

• Three-year servicing commitment: Full fleet maintenance every spring, preparing vehicles for summer’s cooling demands.

• Emergency response: Engineers are often on-site the next morning to minimise disruption.

• Preventative care: Proactive checks to reduce unexpected breakdowns.

Jonathan emphasised that CoolKit makes FareShare Yorkshire feel valued as a client.

He continued: “CoolKit has really bought into our mission. They know we’re a charity and that there are real people in severe hardship who are depending on these vans. That responsiveness – we feel it.  We’ve actually had CoolKit volunteer with us, and that kind of buy-in from them to us is really an indication of how seriously they take us.”

Results That Matter

• £7.4 million worth of food redistributed in the past year alone.

• 400+ charities supported across Yorkshire.

• 10,000 miles per van annually, delivering chilled food to up to eight charities per day.

The reliability of the CoolKit-converted and serviced vehicles underpins every aspect of FareShare Yorkshire’s impact.  And thanks to this partnership, other FareShare regions now also turn to CoolKit based on Yorkshire’s strong recommendations.

Jonathan put it best, saying: “CoolKit quietly plays a critical role in what we do.  Without dependable vans and fast, responsive servicing, we wouldn’t be able to do our job.  They’re more than a supplier – they’re a vital part of how we ensure food isn’t wasted and gets to where it is needed most so 42,000 people can be fed on a weekly basis.”