Lidl East Grinstead

Community Fridges are registered places where surplus food is shared with the local community, by businesses and individuals. So far they've helped thousands connect to their communities, access nutritious food, save money and reduce waste. Frequently Asked Questions: WHO CAN USE THE FOREST ROW COMMUNITY FRIDGE? We welcome absolutely everybody into the community fridge to collect food. We want to reduce food waste, and you can help with that by taking what you need. You do not have to be based in Forest Row, if you can make it to the fridge during our opening hours, you are welcome. DO I HAVE TO PAY? No. It is completely free to take food for all. But if you can make a donation- we would be extremely grateful. These donations go towards our running costs. HOW DO I COLLECT FOOD? Come to the fridge during our open hours, have a look in the fridges and shelves. Take what you will eat and is a fair share. Please ask volunteers for guidance on how much you can take. Once you have what you need, weigh the food and log it out. The volunteers will help you. Weighing the food means that we can log how much food we are saving. We don't take any names or information about you. We ask you to please not open the the fridges or move products unless you will take them. This helps us ensure allergens stay within certain areas in the fridges. IS THE FRIDGE ONLY FOR THOSE IN NEED? It is not only for those in need, the fridge is open for everybody! We are trying to reduce food waste, and we can all help with that. If some free healthy food would really help you, we recommend you get to the fridge at our opening time. WHAT FOOD CAN I DONATE? Food accepted: Packaged goods within ‘use by’ date Unpackaged fruit and veg that is still good to eat Food past its ‘best before’ date but within its ‘use by’ date that is still good to eat Lion stamped eggs Cooked food from registered businesses Food NOT accepted: Raw meat or raw seafood Opened milk or other packaged food Half eaten food Any food previously frozen Any cooked food not from a registered food business Alcohol Beansprouts HOW DO I DONATE FOOD? Read the guidelines above on what food the Fridge accepts Bring food along to the Fridge during opening hours Give food to a volunteer to log donations in. Please note, the fridge accepts food that the Food Bank cannot. HOW CAN I HELP FURTHER? Consider being a volunteer We need help manning the Fridge, cleaning it, collecting food, taking deliveries, PR & marketing, admin, fundraising, you name it! If you want to help out in any way, please contact us directly at FRcommunityfridge@gmail.com Donate money If you would like to donate to the fridge to help with our overheads, please contact us FRcommunityfridge@gmail.com and we can give you more details on how to donate. HOW DO I KNOW THE FOOD IS SAFE TO EAT? We check the food, monitor the temperature and clean the Fridge regularly Users also have a responsibility – see our guidelines

As a Community Fridge we collect surplus food that could otherwise easily end up in the landfill and make it available for people to take and consume in exchange for a small donation. As a Community Cafe we also provide a full cafe menu available to all. Our Cafe ethos has always been to try to provide the best possible quality at the lowest possible price. In addition to this we also utilised our FSA 5* kitchen to enable us to produce our own made frozen ready meals that we use within the cafe or give out to those that have difficulty cooking for themselves. We also repackage large catering size products into more usable sizes for individuals and families. For anyone in crisis we can provide a hot meal in our cafe as well as a supply of fresh and frozen stock to take home with them. We work in partnership with the East Grinstead Foodbank and take referrals from many local agencies including GP Surgeries, Schools, Early Help Teams and many more.

In October 221 a small team set up Uckfield Community Fridge on land near to the Foodbank and Luxford Field, backed and supported by the town council. The essence behind a community fridge is to fight food waste and support local people. It does this by collecting leftover food from businesses, then making it available to local residents and community groups free of charge. This includes individuals with limited access to affordable fresh and nutritious food. The project is a simple solution to wasting less and saving more. We liaised with local supermarkets regarding food donations and they have informed us of the desperate situation they have found people in, sometimes raiding supermarket bins for free food. Quite rightly they have expressed the health and safety issues with this. The community fridge would enable people access to this food without those unnecessary risks. Strict monitoring guidelines based on advice from the Food Standards Agency and the Council’s Environmental Health team ensure the fridge will operate to the highest quality standards. We are sure you are aware of the food poverty crisis and the particular impact of food poverty on children and their future. Universal credit payments have increased by 201% in our local area over the last year, and this is before the furlough scheme has ended. On a local social media group we have been aware of mothers pleading for help from strangers to pay for their children’s dinner. For people in need there is the foodbank, which offers emergency provision and should not be viewed as a long-term solution. For some there is a stigma tied to using foodbanks and people may be reluctant to make initial contact. Food parcels are nutritionally balanced and consist of tinned and dried foods. Foodbank use has increased year on year so there is clearly an on-going local need. We keep in touch with Uckfield Foodbank to complement each other’s work. However, the main difference is that Community Fridges are set up to be a longer-term feature of a community. They operate on a trust basis, are not means tested and are open to all. Community Fridges offer a source of fresh good quality food surplus for everyone. In many cases the most frequent items moving through the fridge are fruit and veg. Community fridges aim to bring people together to see good food be shared and eaten, instead of going to waste.