In November last year, we secured funding from the Glasgow Area Partnership to set up a community fridge in Flourish House! This is a project we were all really excited about.
We were able to buy a refurbished, large, glass fronted fridge and freezer, which we began stocking right away with surplus food from our kitchen and our Fareshare delivery.
We started out using some old shelves from our pantry for dry goods, but we were pleased to have enough funding to buy a beautiful set of shelves from reclaimed wood, made by Glasgow Wood. We also approached Beauty Banks, an organisation which provides donations of toiletries to charities and schools, to expand what we offer. Our art group then created a dazzling sign for us, to make our community fridge even more appealing.
Here is what our members had to say about the community fridge:
Our community fridge is for all our staff and members, and it is really well used. When we approached members for feedback, usage varied from “sometimes” to up to “4 times a week”! During a cost of living crisis, this is a fantastic resource that we are so pleased to be able to provide. Furthermore, using surplus food from supermarkets, and our kitchen, is good for the environment as it avoids waste! Some of our members are also batch cooking popular dishes, such as tomato soup and chicken korma, which means this is also an opportunity to build confidence and contribute positively to our community.
Big thanks go to all the great organisations who have made this possible: Glasgow Area Partnership, FareShare Glasgow , Beauty Banks and Glasgow Wood