A community project which supports local residents in Kirkliston has teamed up with Tesco and food charity FareShare, to receive surplus food and additional items from the supermarket to provide the community with food products for their community fridge.
Established back in 2022, the Waste Not, Want Not in Kirkliston group is an encouraging and positive community project which helps to divert food from being wasted and creating an environmentally friendly way to offer key support for residents across the town.
The group, which is run by volunteers, offers a multitude of services that help deliver educational and sustainable ways for the local community to access food, whether it’s the community gardens where people can grow food or the community fridge which provides breads, baked goods, meat and dairy products supplied very the Tesco Community Food Connection.
Waste Not, Want Not in Kirkliston receives food every week as part of the Community Food Connection surplus food scheme, which involves Tesco stores and food redistribution charity FareShare.
Elizabeth Pemma Ellis-Huddleston, organiser at Waste Not Want Not in Kirkliston, said: “Thanks to the Community Food Connection scheme, we’ve been able to further supply a variety of food items for residents in the local community to enjoy and prepare enjoyable meals with.
“Our community fridge project has been very positively welcomed by our local residents, who are welcome to access all of our services at Waste Not, Want Not, as we are just here to help any and all people who need it.
“We hope that by offering to help anyone and everyone we can, we can also break down the self consciousness about using our community fridge service as well.”
“We’d like to thank Tesco and FareShare for helping us with this project and I wish to extend our thanks to all of our volunteers, some of which actually joined our team after visiting our group themselves. It’s that sense of community spirit that we find incredibly humbling and affirming.”
The Community Food Connection scheme ensures that surplus food from Tesco doesn’t go to waste and is instead provided to charities and community groups, whose volunteer members then distribute it to the public.
Tony McElroy, Corporate Communications and Sustainability Leader at Tesco, said: “Working with community groups and schools, such as Waste Not Want Not in Kirkliston, to help them get the food they need is such an important service for us to offer.
“The dedication they have to their local community is amazing, and we are pleased to do what we can to support.
“We firmly believe no good food should go to waste, which is why we began our Community Food Connection scheme. It enables us to ensure our surplus food is put to good use in communities.”
FareShare is the UK’s biggest charity fighting hunger and food waste. Two-thirds of the organisations it provides food to, support children and families.
Katie Sadler, Head of FareShare Go, said: “The food that Tesco redistributes through FareShare makes a huge difference to people facing food insecurity across the UK.
“We work with thousands of charities and community groups providing essential support to their communities, and receiving a steady stream of food helps them to feed the people who need it most.”
By providing the surplus food to help communities, it is also aiding the environment by ensuring that the food does not end up as landfill.
Charities and community groups that could benefit from the support of the Community Food Connection scheme can find further information at:
https://fareshare.org.uk/getting-food/.
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