A prominent agricultural college has donated a massive 1.4 tonne of chicken to charities that deal with vulnerable members of society.
Food banks, school breakfast clubs and homeless shelters have benefited from the donation of chicken from Scotland’s Rural College.
The meat, which included 600kg of whole chicken, 250kg of chicken legs and 615kg of chicken breasts, was donated 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.
The donation went to more than 100 charity and community groups across Glasgow and the West of Scotland including hostels, day centres, lunch clubs and addiction agencies.
Colin MacEwan, director of commercialisation at SRUC, said the college is helping the local community via accommodation, labs, skills and products.
“We were put in touch with FareShare through the Trussell Trust which manages foodbanks, and have donated 1.4 tonnes 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, said the charity is 'enormously grateful' for the donation of 'high-quality chicken' from the college.
“This food will be welcomed by the hundreds of community organisations we serve supporting the elderly and vulnerable at home during this very difficult time.
“This generous donation means vulnerable people will be able to cook healthy and nourishing meals at home and not worry about the prospect of having no food and no means to get any.
"That is the amazing difference this donation and others make to the lives of people in our communities,” Ms McGoldrick said.
SRUC is also working to support those in need by providing emergency accommodation within student halls; using labs for additional testing; putting staff forward for volunteering roles; and identifying personal protective equipment (PPE) that can be returned for use in the community.
