ALDI RIPON

Boroughbridge Lions and Boroughbridge Community Care have come together to jointly fund Boroughbridge Community Larder which operates as a non-profit organisation.. However, we couldn't have set up the Larder without the generous offer of a room in which to house it in Boroughbridge Methodist Church. The Community Larder's aim is to reduce food waste and stop good food going to landfill where it would create methane, a greenhouse gas which is bad for the environment. In total we have managed to recruit a total of 36 volunteers from the local community, Boroughbridge Lions and Boroughbridge Community Care and we have assigned them into 3 teams. Team 1 collects surplus food from local supermarkets, independent grocers and farm shops. The allotment society and local householders also bring their glut of fruit & vegetables to us. Team 2 arranges the food on the shelves, fridge and freezer. Team 3 greets and escorts our visitors around the Larder where they select the food they want. We open up the Community Larder every Wednesday from 12.00 - 13.00 and stress that anyone can give and anyone can take food. The Larder has been open 4 years in that time we have redistributed 64 tonnes of food so we are doing our bit for the environment. We receive up to 82 visitors on the day we are open. To date we have had a total of 12245 visitors come to the Larder representing 28445 householders. It is lovely to hear the feedback: "This is a lifeline for me" and "I have made a new friend at the Larder". Each week we post on all of the local villages' Facebook pages reminding everyone that they can come and have a free bag of food and that our aim is to reduce waste in order to help the environment. In addition to this the Larder has attracted interest from a local radio station which has conducted several live interviews informing local residents about the Larder. And it's down to a local online newspaper which put out a plea for a place in which to house the Larder that we managed to secure the Methodist Church - Rev Ian Pruden was in the middle of making Sunday dinner when he read the article and immediately got in touch!

Resurrected Bites was set up in Jan 2018 to intercept food "waste" and turn it into delicious, nutritious meals that we serve at our cafes in Harrogate & Knaresborough. We offered a friendly welcoming community and everything is served on a pay as you feel basis so that everyone can afford to go out for lunch. From Mar2020- Jul2021, our 3 cafes were closed and we delivered free food & non-food parcels to 15808 people across the district who are struggling to access food. Our cafes are open at St Wilfrid's Church Hall Wednesday 10-1.30, Killinghall Methodist Church Thursday 10-1.30 and Gracious Street Methodist Church Friday 10-1.30. We have launched a community grocery in Harrogate and one in Knaresborough, providing affordable food & non-food items to people on a low income. A 1-2 person family pays £5 for around £ 40 worth of food, a 3-4 person family can pay £10 for double the amount. Some of our customers may struggle to pay the cost of the shopping and so we are launching a Pay It Forward Scheme. If you would like to donate £5 or £10, it will cover the cost of someone's shopping who is having a tough week. Thank you so much for your support.

Ripon Community House provides a neutral community hub in the centre of Ripon. We provide subsidised office space to organisations that work in the local community. We also hire rooms to charities and local community groups offering support, services and activities to the community. We have brought together the Salvation Army and Bread of Life foodbanks under one umbrella which covers Ripon & Boroughbridge areas and offers food support - receiving, processing and distributing donations to those in need. We are also running a food pantry. We collect and distribute surplus food then cook up what remains into meals which are available for a donation - any funds being used to buy perishables for the Food Support project.