Getir Chesterton

The Edge Café is a community café with a recovery heart; our aim is to provide individuals in recovery from substance misuse a safe and supportive space to meet, connect, develop skills, rebuild lost confidence and generate opportunities for positive change. We provide a visible demonstration of the possibility of recovery from substance misuse and addiction, as the people running the café are all in recovery themselves. We provide a range of arts workshops and wellbeing groups including Mindfulness and Meditation, Pilates and Yoga. Coupled with the work experience and employment we are giving people in recovery, we aim to fill the gap between treatment and becoming employed, productive and empowered citizens. The majority of the volunteers running these workshops are also in recovery. The Edge has also hosted Cambridge's only Community Fridge since 25 September 2017, since then, over 500kg of food that would otherwise have been wasted has been donated to the fridge. Recent research suggests that 61% of the food thrown away in the UK is avoidable and could be eaten if creative ways of sharing are found. The Community Fridge is an attempt to address this issue on a local scale. Anyone can put usable but unwanted food in the fridge, or take it out. The fridge is monitored to make sure nothing is kept past its use-by date. One simply weighs the food and record the exchange.

Our vision is for an equitable and regenerative sustainable food system that prioritises fairness for both people and the planet. Through positive action, collaboration, and partnerships grounded in a systems approach, we aim to drive transformative change. We work to: 1. Promote healthy and sustainable food 2. Tackle food insecurity, diet-related ill health and access to affordable healthy food 3. Build community food knowledge, skills, resources and projects 4. Promote a vibrant and diverse sustainable food economy 5. Transform catering and food procurement 6. Reduce food waste and the ecological footprint of the food system

FoodCycle is a national charity that builds communities through the power of good food. FoodCycle is based upon the simple idea that waste and poverty should not co-exist and that something powerful can be achieved by cooking and eating together. Every week, volunteers across the country reclaim surplus food destined for the bin. This food is instead cooked into healthy, tasty three-course community meals for vulnerable people.