Neighbourly has reported a significant year of growth as the giving platform donated 38 million meals to local communities throughout 2022.
In total, the Bristol-based business has now surpassed the official milestone of 100 million meals redistributed since it was founded in 2014.
Over the last year, the market-leading donation company doubled the number of corporate partners on the platform, now including Pret A Manger, Hampshire Trust Bank and WSP, who join the likes of M&S, Aldi, Lidl, B&Q and RSA Insurance.
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With the need for charitable support growing as a result of rising inflation and the cost-of-living crisis, community engagement has been higher than ever for the business.
During 2022 Neighbourly platform facilitated the donation of over 38 million meals’ worth of surplus food, aided the delivery of 31,000 employee volunteer hours and disbursed £5.2 million in grants.
These programmes supported more than 7,000 local charities and community causes, who in turn help a total of over 2.6 million people in the UK and Ireland every week.
Total financial impact since the platform’s launch in 2014 now sits at over £250 million, with the goal being to deliver £1 billion in impact by 2025.
Neighbourly was also awarded a prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise and expanded the team by 65%, to nearly 100 staff members, as the business continued to scale and grow at pace.
“There have been enormous challenges for everyone involved in the charity sector over the past 12 months, but we’ve seen strong growth in our impact and the resources that we’ve been able to channel to those that need them most,” Neighbourly CEO Steve Butterworth said.
He added: “We’re immensely proud of our achievements to date, which are thanks to the hard work of the whole Neighbourly team, our network of good causes and our corporate partners.
“Looking ahead, we remain committed to channeling resources that our clients have to give into the heart of local communities, as well as developing new platform features to further enhance our impact.
“We have ambitious plans to grow our offer while remaining true to our values as a founding UK B Corp, and to do this in a way that meets the increasing need for community investment,” Butterworth concluded.
In December, Neighbourly established its Warm Communities Fund, a ‘needs-led’ donation fund – which has raised £50,000 to date – designed to support charities and community groups within its network to provide ‘warm banks’ and food donations.
