The network is working together to help the community and provide people most in need with essential support and services

The logistics team at Bristan Group has been volunteering its time and expertise to help Birmingham based cooperative, The Active Wellbeing Society, with its food distribution services.

#BrumTogether is a city-wide network of more than 70 partner organisations, charity and groups in Birmingham, co-ordinated by The Active Wellbeing Society. The network is working together to help the community and provide people most in need with essential support and services.

As of May 31, 31,960 food parcels, 8,890 cooked meals, 627 bulk food orders, 2,164 dedicated hours of phone support and 13,327 phone calls have been provided/dealt with by The Active Wellbeing Society.

Bristan Group, which is known for its robust global supply chain and carefully engineered warehouse system, provided valuable logistics expertise, helping the network get through rising challenges and demands for food across the city.

Jason Smith, Chief Commercial Officer for Bristan Group, said: “It’s been a pleasure working with The Active Wellbeing Society, and we hope that our advice and planning can continue to keep the food distribution services running smoothly.

“We’re very happy to have been able to use our knowledge and expertise for the greater good during a particular difficult time for vulnerable communities in Birmingham.”

A key challenge was relocating the food distribution hub originally located at Ladywood Community Centre to a new premises that was large enough to handle the number of incoming bulk orders. Bristan Group employees helped the organisation relocate to Aston University Students’ Union which allowed services to continue on a much wider scale.

In addition, the Group’s employees used their warehouse and logistics knowledge to manage workflows efficiently and ensured that food hygiene standards were maintained. They have also examined the layout to make sure the volunteers can follow social distancing and sourced new equipment to reduce manual labour.

Paul Moore, Head of Community Intervention and Tools at The Active Wellbeing Society, added: “Bristan Group has made such a massive difference to how we run our food distribution services here at The Active Wellbeing Society – from finding a more suitable food distribution centre, to creating a smoother and more efficient workflow.

“The employees have instilled so much confidence in our team and its logistics expertise is second to none.”

To discover more about the #BrumTogether campaign, visit https://theaws.co.uk/