Community fridge saving tonnes of food from landfill

The community fridge offers fresh fruit and vegetables as well as other packaged food

A community fridge in Leicestershire has saved almost eight tonnes of food from going to landfill since it opened 18 months ago, organisers have said.

The Village Community Fridge in St Mary's Road, Market Harborough, opened in November 2022 to reduce waste.

Organisers of the non-profit project say they have seen a rise in the number of people using the service and some are in food poverty.

The surplus food is donated by shops, businesses and individuals from the area.

The initiative, which is available to anyone, offers fresh fruit and vegetables as well as other packaged food from Tuesday to Saturday.

Kim Oldfield, who runs the project, said it started with one fridge and had since doubled in size, with twice the amount of pantry space for produce.

She said the hub had saved 7.7 tonnes of food from being thrown away since it opened.

"Only last week in just one day we were given 80 kilos (176lbs) of food that would have just gone straight in the bin from only two supermarkets," she said.

Organiser Kim Oldfield says they are stopping tonnes of good food being wasted

Ms Oldfield said the project was currently run by 10 volunteers and needed more people to help to collect donations and arrange produce.

"We're delighted to be able to offer free food, but cannot do it without your help," she added.

"We rely heavily on donations and volunteer support."

She said people could donate excess produce from their allotments, or vegetables grown in their gardens.

The community fridge is part of a national network of 600 across the country, co-ordinated and part -funded by environmental charity Hubbub.