Food poverty charity FareShare South West is to receive a £5,000 donation from global real estate advisory firm Colliers International – the amount its Bristol office had expected to raise from its annual TRYathlon, which has been cancelled.
The office has staged the popular event since 2013 – with proceeds going to a different good cause each year.
The gruelling TRYathlon includes a 400m indoor swim, 16km cycle and 5km run, with competitors entering either as individuals or in teams of three.
Jo Edwards, head of Colliers International’s South West and South Wales office said: “Although this year’s TRYathlon has had to be cancelled, we were determined to support our chosen charity FareShare South West, for which we had hoped to raise £5,000 by holding the event.
“Colliers will now be making a donation of £5,000 to ensure it receives funding at a time when they are having to cope with unprecedented demand as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.”
The office will also be organising other ways of supporting the Bristol-based charity as it extends its services to provide emergency food during the coronavirus pandemic.
Colliers South West and South Wales office director Nick Williams, who is responsible for organising the TRYathlon, added: “Members of staff will also be working on alternative ways of supporting the work of FareShare South West for the rest of this year.”
FareShare South West’s head of development Phoebe Ruxton said the charity was extremely grateful to everyone at Colliers International for their support at this time.
“It this is a big relief that the company has chosen to continue with this donation despite the TRYathlon cancellation,” she added.
“As you can imagine, our world has turned upside down in the last few days as we respond as fast as possible to the need for vital support. It means a huge amount to our team to have support and encouragement from our local community.”
FareShare South West, an independent charity and part of the FareShare UK network, is transitioning to a new model to deal with the new threat to food insecurity among the most vulnerable members of society.
“We are aiming to provide a bare minimum of food for 5,000 meals every day to the highest risk groups,” Phoebe Ruxton added.
“We are absolutely determined not only to stay open but to level up our organisation as far as we possibly can to stop the very worst happening.
“This includes families and children going hungry, as they are already living on the breadline and have no budget to stockpile, and also isolated elderly people who already rely on meals being delivered to their homes and have no family, and homeless people who are facing a sharp reduction in the support services they rely on.”
Business can contribute to FareShare South West by emailing phoebe@faresharesouthwest.org.uk
Pictured before the coronavirus pandemic, from left: FareShare South West head of development Phoebe Ruxton; Colliers International South West and South Wales office director and Colliers Bristol TRYathlon organiser Nick Williams; Colliers International head of the South West and South Wales office Jo Edwards; and FareShare South West project manager Mat Miles
