THE organisers of the town’s community fridge are urging all people in the Westbury area to come down to the Westbury Community Project to pick up some free and tasty food items as a way to reduce food going to waste. “It’s not just for people in need” is the message from the organisers.
The Community Fridge receives donations from local supermarkets of bakery items as well as fresh and frozen products all ready to be picked up for free by local people. The initiative is run by the Westbury Area Network (WAN) and volunteers have saved over one ton – a colossal 1109.19kg – of food from going to waste in October alone.
WAN volunteers are appealing for more local people to pick up free food from the Community Fridge and save even more food from going to waste.
A WAN spokesperson said, “Unfortunately, many people believe that the food we have collected is for those in our community who are in need. This is really not the case and we really want to get this across to the local community that we are very much here for anyone who would like to help us in our efforts to avoid food waste.
“We are busier than ever trying our best to help reduce food waste. We have a dedicated team of volunteers who collect excess food from the local supermarkets that would otherwise go to landfill. We also have food kindly donated by the local allotment and some members of the local community bring in their excess fruit and vegetables that they have grown in their gardens too.
“In October 2022, the Community Fridge saved a total of 585.4kg worth of food from going to waste and we had 552 customers. In October 2023, we saw a huge increase in the weight of food saved from landfill, 1,109.19kg and an increase in customers rising to 1,060. We are pleased to see that more people are using the Community Fridge but we really do need more people to come along. We regularly have bakery items of bread, pastries, cakes, fresh vegetables, fruit and even flowers!”
The Community Fridge is based at the Westbury Community Project on Eden Vale Road and it is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 10.30am until 12pm.
Volunteers always welcome
WAN are always seeking more volunteers to help with the running of the Community Fridge including drivers who would be available to collect items from the supermarkets. If you would like to get involved email westburyareanetwork@gmail.com
You can also keep up to date with the WAN by following their Facebook page.
