With such a large population at the University, food waste sometimes occurs despite our best efforts to minimise it. One person at the University, Janice Stephenson, has found a way of making sure that any extra food is used for better purposes. Janice is a chef for the University and spends her free time running the charity Humanity Giving Back.

Janice’s role at the University allowed her to see what food waste was produced and this gave her the idea to donate any surplus food to good causes, through the charity Humanity Giving Back. Janice spoke about how she originally started: “I saw an opportunity to do some good with food that would otherwise end up unused”.

From then on Humanity Giving Back has been collecting food donations with the help from the volunteers at the University. Every Friday evening Janice and other volunteers, travel around food outlets across the University of Manchester to gather food donations. Originally, Humanity Giving Back started out with street feeding, where volunteers would hand out food donations to homeless on the street. But now Humanity Giving Back works with charities across the Manchester and Salford region that make sure any donations get to the people who need it most.

Janice spoke about how the University has been supporting this initiative: “The University has been incredibly helpful, and as a whole amazing at what they do”. She went on to say that she would not have been able to do any of the work for the charity without the help from the University.

Food donations are not the only thing that Humanity Giving Back is involved with, the list is extensive. It ranges from Christmas day handouts to donating jewellery for the homeless to sell. As winter is draws closer, Humanity Giving Back is in desperate need for winter clothing, hats, gloves and coats.

If you have anything to donate to Humanity Giving Back you can email Janice Stephenson For more information visit the Facebook Group.