Back in March 2020 Rotary in Northwich, North West England started working with what was to become the Northwich Community Support Group.
The group aimed to help alleviate food waste and assist those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During this time, Rotarians would collect waste and ‘end of life’ food from Northwich Tesco & Waitrose supermarkets.
The food was then transported to a central food hub where it was distributed at no cost to those in most need in the local community.
The Rotarians also delivered food packages to those people who could not get out of their homes during the lockdown.
The total collections amount to over 950 which is the equivalent of over 42,483 meals.”
The simple initiative has transformed itself into the Northwich Community Support Group which now provides food from four food hubs in the area.
All hubs are manned by an army of volunteers who give up their time free of charge.
Northwich Rotary has continued to provide logistical help and support to the Northwich Community Support Group. This includes the weekly organisation of volunteers from the 31 Rotary members.
The Norwich volunteers pack food in a car.
More recently the volunteers have also been collecting food waste donated by Morrisons supermarkets from their Distribution Centre on Gadbrook Park, Northwich.
The amount of food needing to be collected from this site has meant that alternative transport was required to cope with the large volumes.
Thankfully, a local estate agent, Ian Storey, made the company van available to the volunteers, meaning that the large volume of food can still be collected and delivered to the local food hubs.
The total collections amount to over 950 which is the equivalent of over 42,483 meals.
The aim of the group was to help alleviate food waste and assist those in need during the COVID-19 pandemic.”
The work of the Northwich Community Support group and the Rotary in Northwich volunteers has been promoted and communicated via Social Media and through the local press.
This has resulted in large queues of people forming outside of the food hubs to take advantage of the food on offer.
As a result of the high interest, the organiser’s mantra has now changed to being a Zero Waste Food initiative, helping to reduce food waste throughout the Northwich area.
The estate agents van lent to the community group to optimise distribution to the local community.
If you would like to volunteer and assist, please send a Facebook message to either Northwich Rotary or the Northwich Community Support Group.
