Thanks to the Sovereign centre the community fridge had an official opening by the Mayor on the 18th January.
The aim of the ‘fridge of free stuff’ is to share surplus food within a community to reduce food waste going to landfills.
This project is possible through the collaborative efforts of WsM Helping People, For All Healthy Living Centre, The Sovereign Centre, and North Somerset Council who are working with Weston-super-Mare Town Council’s Community Resilience team to bring this project to fruition. There is also a list of food suppliers keen to support including FareShare and other local retailers that have surplus supplies of foods that would otherwise be thrown away.
By making this food available to everyone we play our part to stop this waste. Since the fridge has been open, the volunteers have heard very positive feedback from its clientele who have shared:
• ‘I have only spent £2.44 on shopping since you have opened; you have provided everything else and I am keeping a log of the impact of the project on my life’.
• ‘I look forward to coming around to see what you have available on the day’
• ‘You make me use my brain about how I can use the food on offer’
• ‘If it weren’t for you, I would never eat any fresh vegetables and fruit’
The community fridge has redistributed 163.64KG of food going to waste saving 2.87184857142857 tonnes of CO2 and creating 164 possible meals during its first month before it fully opened.
The food on offer is fresh, free and local. It is hoped that recipe exchange and an information hub will be set up alongside the community fridge.
To find out when the next food delivery is coming, join the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/FridgeofFreeStuffWSM
We are pulling together more volunteers to assist with the running of the community fridge. If you have some free time, would enjoy meeting new people and want to play a part in the fight against climate change please apply with this link http://bttr.im/zin8t