Great Places’ Crossley Community Centre in Oldham has recently received funding from award-winning environmental organisation Hubbub to set up a Community Fridge.
A site where local people can share food, including surplus from supermarkets, local food businesses, producers, households and gardens, a Community Fridge helps prevent food waste. The Fridge locations also create a space that brings people together to eat, connect, and learn new skills.
Leanne Keane, Community Partnership Manager at Great Places and Naseem Ahmad, Community Development Coordinator at Great Places have worked together to get the fridge up and running for customers. This included purchasing the fridge, securing supplies of surplus goods from supermarkets and other local organisations, and recruiting volunteers to run the fridge.
So far, the project has proved a huge success with an average of 25-30 households accessing the fridge every week; almost two tons of surplus food and household items have been given out since.
Customers in the neighbourhoods are continuing to feel the effects of the rising cost of living. As well as reducing food waste, Great Places is supporting households through this project to access food and household goods at no cost. As a result, more customers are now accessing the community centre and using the social space open during the fridge opening hours. This has brought people out of isolation and helped them to make new friends.
Anna Davies, Neighbourhoods Apprentice at Great Places has played a vital part in supporting the ongoing operation and we have also recruited 11 volunteers to help run the Community Fridge. Many of these are individuals who have been accessing the Community Fridge and wanted to be involved more and give something back. The volunteers are all receiving full training, including Food Safety and Safeguarding.
Commenting on the launch of the new Community Fridge Leanne Keane, Community Partnership Manager at Great Places, said:
The success of the fridge has been more than we ever could have imagined. I am still surprised every week by the amount of goods we bring that would have otherwise gone to waste, everything from avocados to washing powder. The comments we have from the households accessing the fridge each week really make it worth it. The volunteers have been invaluable to the success of our fridge, and we now have 11 in total who support with collecting food, setting everything up, serving customers and cleaning plus lots more. We could not do it without them. The sense of community spirt is incredible.
The Community Fridge is available to anyone in the community and opens every Wednesday between 2pm and 4pm (whilst stocks last). It is located at Crossley Community Centre, 323 Denton Lane, Chadderton, OL9 9GA.
