Fenland community fridges offer helping hand to struggling families
They're expected to get more visitors over the winter months
Cambridgeshire families in need this winter will be given a helping hand thanks to community fridges.
It's an idea set up by the Fenland Association for Community Transport (FACT), where food from the likes of supermarkets and other businesses that would otherwise go to waste is supplied to people who attend.
After a community fridge was set up at FACT's hub in March, it has more recently branched out to Wimblington where the parish hall opens up the food service once a week.
Councillor Maureen Davis is the chair of Wimblington Parish Council:
"I don't know if there has to be a need; this is about food that would go to landfill," she said.
"It's about two things; stopping food going to land waste and hopefully helping someone who's on a tight budget.
"I know we have people who use the food bank, but would have to travel to March (for example), so for them to perhaps drop their children at the school, park their car here, have a cup of coffee and pick up a bag of essentials in it, what's not to like?"
Anyone that attends a community fridge is not means-tested, such as being assessed on whether or not you can use the service based on income.
The fridges in March and Wimblington, which offers essential items like bread and vegetables, will continue to run through the autumn and winter months as a way of tackling food poverty.
Zoe Phillips is FACT's mobile hub coordinator:
"Prices are rising in supermarkets and other places, so we're there to fulfil that need for people so they don't get hungry," she said.
"We have regular users of the fridge; we have people who use it as they need it and the numbers are growing, and I can see that will probably continue to rise during the colder months.
"None of us can predict the future; it depends if people stay in work, if the supermarket prices do rise so we're hopeful it won't rise massively."