Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines joined forces with food distribution charity, FareShare, to donate more than £33,000 of food to causes in need in Scotland while its ships are in lay-up in Rosyth. 

Thirty pallets of food including biscuits, cereals, dried fruits, nuts, jam, chocolate, cured meats, baking ingredients and more, were donated from all four ships in the fleet. The items were collected from Balmoral, Braemar, Boudicca and Black Watch at Babcock’s Rosyth facility, where the ships recently relocated during a pause in operations, and distributed to those experiencing poverty, isolation or homelessness by FareShare. 

Thomas Rennesland, Hotel Operations Director at Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, said:

“We are used to feeding in excess of 4,000 guests and crew across our fleet every day, and while we have not taken on any additional fresh produce since we paused our operations in March – other than that required to feed our crew – our stores and freezers were fully stocked and ready for cruising as normal.

“As our ships have been in the Rosyth area since March it seemed only fitting to donate these additional food items to those who need it most in Scotland.

“The crew on board have worked extremely hard, in addition to their usual duties, to prepare all of the food items so that they are ready for collection by FareShare and I would like to thank all involved for their efforts for this very worthy cause.

“Thank you also to the Sailors’ Society Port Chaplain for Leith and Forth, who made the donation possible.”

Teresa McGoldrick, Regional Food Officer Scotland for FareShare, said:

“The entire team at FareShare Scotland are enormously grateful for the substantial products received from Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines. This food will be hugely welcomed by the hundreds of community organisations we serve supporting the elderly and vulnerable at home during this very difficult time. FareShare Scotland supports over 700 charity and community groups across Scotland including hostels, day centres, lunch clubs and young people’s projects and during this really difficult time it’s becoming very clear that food is the glue bringing communities together. The need now is greater than ever.

“The support from Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is the equivalent of 30,000 meals to the most vulnerable people. That is the amazing difference this donation and others like it make to the lives of people in our communities. Heartfelt thank you from us all.”

Pauline Robertson, Sailors’ Society’s Leith port chaplain, said:

“It’s wonderful that Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines wanted to benefit the local community and not let the food go to waste. We have a great relationship with the local agents and food banks, so when the call came through about the donation, I knew exactly where to direct them. We’re supporting many seafaring families through the pandemic and it’s amazing to see something positive come out of these tough times.”

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