Second community fridge to support more Westbury residents

A Second community fridge is set to open in Westbury, helping to provide free food to even more residents across the town.

The town’s existing community fridge, based on Eden Vale Road, offers free fresh food such as bread, fruit and vegetables to anyone who needs it. Unlike a foodbank, no referral is required – people can simply drop in and take what they need.

Now, a brand-new community fridge will soon be created at Leigh Park Community Centre.

Ian Cooper, of the Westbury Area Network (WAN), which runs the current community fridge, says there has been a clear rise in demand over the last six months. He hopes a new site will help reach more people.

Ian said, “At the moment, we open the community fridge on Eden Vale Road on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Those three mornings are working well, but we’ve found it is people local to that specific area who make use of it.

“A second community fridge at the Leigh Park Community Centre means we can bring support to a wider range of people. Debbie, the manager there, and I have been talking about this idea for a while, and what it could mean to have this kind of support in another area of the town.”

The community fridge at Leigh Park Community Centre will operate from a purpose-built shelter adjacent to the car park area. It will be equipped with two under-counter fridges and shelving to store surplus food collected from local outlets, such as supermarkets. All staff and volunteers handling food will complete a Level 2 Food Hygiene Certificate.

It is hoped the new community fridge will be able to operate five days a week, but details are still being finalised.

Ian added, “The intention would be to open for longer, which would hopefully draw in more people. We are still in the process of sourcing the shelter itself and the fridges, but we are working hard to make this happen as soon as we can.

“Watch this space!”

WAN has worked with Westbury Town Council and Leigh Park Community Centre to make the second community fridge a reality.

At a recent town council meeting, councillors agreed to cover set-up costs of £3,199 for the community fridge and running costs of up to £1,000 a year.

Councillors and staff praised the wider work of the community fridge and WAN volunteers, with town councillor Gordon King adding that the venture was “very important” for the town.