WESTBURY’S Community Fridge will celebrate its first anniversary next month, and during its first year of operation, has saved seven tonnes of food waste from going to landfill and helped people in the town eat well.
The town’s community fridge, which was the first of its kind in Wiltshire, was officially opened on 20th March 2019 at Crosspoint in Westbury’s market place. The project was formed by Westbury Town Council in conjunction with the former waste education team at Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and Crosspoint.
Supermarkets in the town; Aldi, Lidl and Tesco Express, donate surplus food to the fridge and residents are able to take them, free of charge, to stop goods unnecessarily going to landfill.
Volunteers at Crosspoint told White Horse News, “It’s the first thing people visit when the doors open, in fact there is usually around 10 people waiting to see what’s new in that day. They say ‘You have to get here early for the good stuff’ which is usually the fresh fruit and vegetables.
“It’s clear how much it benefits young families, a lot of them tell us how much it helps and how much they appreciate it being in our town.
“It also helps those who already receive food here from the food bank. At Crosspoint, we are the Westbury arm of the Warminster Food Bank, so people who use the service come here to use their vouchers. We often suggest for them to take a look in the fridge to see what else they can take. So location wise, the fridge works great here at Crosspoint.
“The majority of our visitors now come because of the community fridge, so it has been really good to show people in the town the other work Crosspoint has to offer as we are still not widely known about.
“There are a lot of frequent users of the fridge, every day the stock gets taken which is great news for lowering the amount of food waste in the town.
“It’s not just the people of Westbury visiting either. Other towns have been in to ask more details about how Westbury set the scheme up, hoping to be able to take it back to their town.
“The fridge has only a few volunteers, who go and collect the food from the supermarkets to stock the fridge. They are in need of more volunteers to keep the scheme successful.”
Mayor, cllr Mike Sutton, said, “The community fridge has been a very good success and is something of which the town can be proud. The food provided for those in need has been well received and particularly pleasing was the provisions handed out to those on Christmas Eve ,to enable them to have a more enjoyable festive celebration.
“In the first year, seven tonnes of food has been provided which otherwise would have gone to landfill and so not only does the fridge assist those in need, it also contributes to environmental sustainability.
“Nothing could have been achieved without the volunteers who generously give their time to enable it to run smoothly, and Crosspoint for allowing it to be on their premises. None of it of course would be possible without the contribution of our local supermarkets who have done so much for our community and without which, all that has happened would have been impossible. As mayor I am very thankful to them all.”
If you have a few hours a week spare and are interested in joining up, or would like more information, then contact Kieran at Westbury Town Council on 01373 822232 or email info@westburytown council.gov.uk.
Following in Westbury’s footsteps, there is now a fridge in Bemerton in Salisbury and Trowbridge has recently carried out a ‘soft launch’ for one run out of the Trowbridge Future Community Hub. Bradford on Avon is also hoping to launch one soon.
