Northampton community larders save tonnes of food from supermarket bins

Families told volunteers they would not have had a Christmas dinner without the larder

More than three tonnes of food was saved from supermarket bins in the three days ahead of Christmas before being redistributed to people hit by the cost of living.

Towcester and Roade community larders in Northamptonshire said people told them without their help they "wouldn't have had a Christmas dinner".

Food was collected from 20 supermarkets between 22 and 24 December.

The service has been "in demand" this year, volunteer Katie Steele said.

She added: "It's good to be able to rescue it from going into the bin.

"When we had the Christmas Eve sessions, we had people come and say 'We wouldn't have had a Christmas dinner if we hadn't been able to come today'.

"We got some lovely messages and a lot of grateful people, so it was great to get that food there."

Volunteers collect the food from supermarkets before setting up stalls at the community larder

The charity subscribes to Fareshare which supplies it with the food.

Individuals are charged a membership fee by the community larder, with people paying about £5 for approximately £25 to £30 of shopping.

With an emphasis on healthy eating, bread, vegetables and fruit are given away for free.

Amy Bull uses the Towcester community larder to help reduce food waste and cut her shopping bills

Amy Bull, who lives near Towcester, said she shopped at the larder to help prevent waste but also to reduce her shopping bill.

"I come out of the larder and typically I would have saved about £30 or £40 off my shopping bill," she said.

"It's quite vast every week when you start adding it up. Everything is going up in price in supermarkets."

Volunteers at the larder said demand for their support had "definitely escalated due to the cost of living crisis."

"It makes me sad on one hand but also [I'm] really glad we can make a difference and support people over what is a difficult time for a lot of people and save food from waste at the same time. That's a win all around," Ms Steele said.

"We're very fortunate to have what you'd call a 'normal' Christmas and go to the supermarket and buy the food.

"Realising how any people are reliant on the larder service and food banks within the county - it's quite humbling really," she said.