Food Waste Reduction and Sharing

The Problem

Bellingham and the surrounding villages exist in one of the most isolated areas of England. It is becoming increasingly clear how important it is for rural communities to look at how to maximise their resilience with regards to:

• The rising cost of living and the impact of inflation, including rising energy and food costs
• The damage to the environment through climate change

Given the distance from nearby larger towns and the poor public transport links, it is especially important for areas like Bellingham, Otterburn and other small communities in the North Tyne and Redesdale area to make it as easy as possible to access food sharing services.

The Idea

In January 2022, NT&RCP became aware of another charity called Hubbub, who had been offering support for the setting up of Community Fridges across the country. While there had been a great number of these set up across the more Southerly areas of England, there were none in the Northumberland area.

After investigation, it was felt that a Community Fridge/Pantry initiative would be very useful in our area, to help people and businesses share food that would otherwise be wasted, benefiting the local area financially as well as reducing landfill and benefitting the environment. Bellingham was selected as the location for this as it is the main population centre of the area, allowing NT&RCP to offer food sharing close to the largest number of food businesses as well as maximising the number of people who would be available to use the Pantry on a day to day basis. It was felt that if the pantry was a success, it would be possible to extend the scheme in some form to other, smaller villages in the area if there was demand for this.

The Consultation

Initial, informal communication of the idea for the Pantry gave a mixed response from local residents. While many were positive about the idea, some were concerned that it was a food bank or that it was simply not needed in the area. However, the majority of comments and feedback received was positive.

Discussion with the local Co-op supermarket as well as local cafes and other food retailing businesses were positive and there seemed to be sufficient evidence that the scheme could be successful, so NTRCP’s trustees decided to proceed with the project.

NT&RCP’s trustees met with representatives from Northumberland County Council (NCC) who were able to provide guidance as well as signposting funding that could be used to support the creation of the Pantry. Further funding and support was received from Bellingham Parish Council.

The Practicalities

NT&RCP initially had plans to use a purpose built unit within the grounds of a local village hall on the outskirts of the centre of Bellingham. However due to nearby resident resistance, this option was abandoned and a new location was searched for.

A redundant unit was found to be available in the centre of Bellingham, off a small alley on Lock-up Lane. It was felt that this was preferable to the previous site as it was closer to the existing shops, allowing for higher footfall and more visibility. The site had previously been a small fish and chip shop, but this had closed in the 1960s and had only been used as a storage shed after this.

The unit was cleared out and, after consultation with builders it was decided that the best approach was to board out the walls.

Boarding was kindly provided free of charge by Egger in Hexham. Discounted or free building materials were provided by MKM and CEF and the work was kindly undertaken by builder Neil Skilbeck and electrician Chris Roberts. It wasn’t an easy job, but eventually we had a boarded unit with the necessary utilities to proceed.

NT&RCP’s trustees then moved into the final phase of the scheme.

The building was completed, with the floor being painted and filled, holes plugged, painting of wood and endless cleaning. The exterior of the building was in poor repair, so this was cleared of weeds, painted and new signage put up for the Pantry. The old Belfast sink was repurposed as a planter to contain fresh herbs for people to help themselves.

There was a great deal of planning involved in the setting up of the Pantry. The site had to be registered as a food business with the local council. Insurance had to be obtained. Risk assessments were undertaken, health and safety and food hygiene legislation was reviewed, volunteers had to be found (initially this was mainly the trustees themselves, but more and more locals have got involved to date) and everyone involved had to undertake Level 2 food hygiene training. Fortunately this training was available online for a low price, which was covered by NT&RCP.

Further community engagement was also undertaken. NT&RCP trustees discussed the practicalities of collecting food with local food businesses and organised the purchase of food containers and bags to allow for easy storage and collection of food by volunteers. Letters were created to give business owners detailed information regarding how they could get involved and this was backed up by personal meetings with trustees.

Engagement with the community was also seen as vital. NT&RCP reached out to various local organisations to try and build a network of support. This included local churches and parish councils. In addition, a flier was delivered to every household in Bellingham which explained about the Pantry as well as giving more information about NT&RCP itself.

The Grand Opening

The Pantry opened on 24th August 2022. The trustees arranged a formal opening to help spread the news and increase awareness. They invited representatives from the County Council, the Parish Council, local charities, volunteers and the local press. Around a dozen people attended the opening and this was publicised in the local newspaper.

On the back of the opening, NT&RCP launched the Pantry on Facebook, utilising its own Facebook page as well as getting other well used local Facebook pages to share the opening announcement. This reached over 3,000 people, with over 400 interactions - all of which were very positive.

In the first three days after opening, the Pantry had received over 50kg of spare food and had distributed around 30kg to numerous users. Informal reaction to the Pantry was also positive, with no negative responses noted by the trustees.

NT&RCP therefore extended its reach, with new advertising to other parish councils across the North Tyne and Redesdale area (many of whom use Bellingham as their shopping/amenities hub).