Cambridgeshire MP visits Co-op community fridge

Cambridgeshire MP Steve Barclay has paid a visit to the Co-op’s first community fridge in the town of March.  

The visit comes as part of the convenience retailer’s plans with charity partner Hubub to expand the community fridge project across the UK. 

The fridge, which is located on Martin Avenue, is among the first of 100 installations which are set to be rolled out across the UK over the next year and will save an estimated 6.8 million meals per year from going to waste.  

The fridges are open for anyone in the local area to access, with local businesses and the Co-op contributing surplus food from their stores. 

It will be open from 10am until 12 pm from Monday to Friday.  

The project in Cambridgeshire is currently being run by FACT Community Transport, who are requesting donations of unopened packaged food or contributions of raw fruit and vegetables.  

READ MORE: Central England Co-op partners with Too Good To Go to tackle food wastage

The latest addition to the scheme joins the existing 150 units in the Community Fridge Network, which redistributes approximately 6000 meals per fridge each month.  

“It was great to see our community coming together to help people develop skills such as cooking and growing their own fruit and veg, as well as reducing food waste through innovation in the form of community fridges”, Barclay said.  

Co-op director of community and shared value Rebecca Birkbeck added: “As a co-operative, we have a responsibility to work with others to make a genuine difference. 

“We have already made a number of interventions to create fairer access to food. 

“However, our work with local communities has taught us that sustainable change comes from helping families and communities to help themselves and that’s why we are so delighted to support the community fridge network. 

“It’s great that Steve Barclay has had the opportunity to see first-hand how the March community fridge is empowering people in March towards creating their own solutions and helping their community build resilience for the future.” 

Click here to sign up to Grocery Gazette’s free daily email newsletter

SustainabilitySymbol Groups

RELATED POSTS

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Fill out this field
Fill out this field
Please enter a valid email address.

Menu

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

Sign up to our daily newsletter to get all the latest grocery news and insights direct to your inbox.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.