Foodsave Beer, the village’s community larder, celebrated its first birthday last week.
Foodsave CIC, a local not-for-profit focused on creating zero-food waste communities, has worked closely with many local people and organisations to ensure Foodsave Beer’s success. A year on from its humble beginnings, the larder now sees food from its one weekly session go into the hands of 1 in 6 households in Beer.
Foodsave CIC was formed as Honiton Foodsave in November 2020, with the aim of redistributing perfectly-useable food waste from businesses and individuals. 3 years on, Foodsave CIC supports up to 300 households per week with surplus food donations – stopping food from going in the bin and putting more food and money into the hands of local people.
The sessions, which run in the Mariners’ Hall on Tuesdays from 12:30pm until supplies run dry, promote the sharing of food amongst local volunteers and residents, enhancing a sense of wellbeing for everyone involved. Beryl, one of Foodsave Beer’s volunteers, is proud of the time she donates to the larder.
“Being part of Foodsave enables me to enjoy the camaraderie of belonging to a team of helpers who all have the same objective: to save the dreadful waste of good food, and by doing so making a difference, if only small, to a lot of lives.”
Beryl, volunteer for Foodsave Beer.
“It seems like yesterday that our wonderful team in Beer opened their doors, and yet they have already created a real community asset for the village. As we continue with our plans to open a number of new locations in the coming few months, we can’t wait to see what time has in store for for the organisation. I am so proud of the people involved in ensuring our larder’s success in Beer, and here’s to many more anniversaries going forward!”
Jake Bonetta, founder and Director of Foodsave CIC, who is excited for Foodsave Beer’s future.
Foodsave Beer thanks the Mariners’ Hall Committee, Beer GP practice and Beer Men’s Shed for their support of the initiative, alongside the kind financial backing from village groups and individuals.
To find out more about Foodsave Beer and their services, please visit their section of the website by clicking here. If you’d like to get involved, especially within the volunteer driver team, please go along to one of their sessions or contact the team via by email here or by calling 07471 282626.