The President of Malta will be coming to Deptford tomorrow to visit a food charity in preparation for the opening of Malta’s first food bank.

Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca will visit food re-distribution charity FareShare, originally set up in 1994, at their Blackhorse Road warehouse to discover how surplus food is being used to support people living in poverty and social exclusion in the UK.

FareShare CEO Lindsay Boswell said the President will tour the depot, see volunteers prepare food orders for charities across London and find out how the charity gains support from the UK’s food industry.

He said: “We’re very pleased and honoured to show H.E. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, the successful FareShare model and our social impact. Both countries can learn from each other and it is also very inspiring to meet H.E. who is personally supporting an important social project to help people in poverty.”

The Malta Food Bank Foundation is opening the country’s first ever food bank to help people in Malta.

Irene Schembri, chairperson of Malta Food Bank Foundation said: “H.E. Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca is very enthusiastic about the project of creating a food bank in Malta and will assist the Foundation in the process to set it up from helping us to secure warehouse premises, to lending her support at meetings with Malta’s food chain industries to gain the support of key partners such as food importers and producers.

“We are very pleased that she’s able to visit FareShare UK to witness their work and get an understanding of the impact we can aim to have on the community and the environment in Malta.”