Community Fridge

What is the Community Fridge?

About one third of all food produced globally is wasted each year. In the UK alone, over 10 million tonnes are thrown away annually. This isn’t just wasteful, it’s a major environmental and social issue. As food rots, it releases methane, harming the climate, while the natural resources used to produce it are also lost. At the same time, rising living costs and food insecurity make throwing away perfectly edible food an ethical concern.

The Alnwick Garden Trust continues to open its Community Fridge every week, with 774kg of surplus food prevented from waste during the year.

We also struck up a new partnership with FareShare, thanks to funding through Northumberland County Council. FareShare is the Uk’s largest charity fighting hunger and food waste. They save good food from going to waste and redistribute it to frontline charities. During 2024/25 we provided food parcels to our Elderberries, supported our Young Gardeners project and put any surplus into our Community Fridge,

Stories & Impact

‘I just wanted to say thank you for the help you give us as sometimes I sat with absolutely nothing so what you do helps greatly so thank you’. – Leila – Community Fridge user

‘I cook loads of recipes with the food from here – I call them my ‘landfill meals”. – Anon, Community Fridge user

‘I cook stews for my dad with this food. He’s nearly 100. This is great – I hate waste and it really makes a difference to me. The cost of food is going up all the time’. – Anon, Community Fridge user

Meet the Team

Kim Warren

Horticultural Officer

With over 35 years of work in the environmental sector, I help to develop and deliver projects that involve others in action for climate change in active travel, giving people access to nature, restoring habitats and working in partnership to boost the green economy.

How your donation can help

£5 buys cleaning products for the community fridge
£10 buys store cupboard ingredients for a cookery lesson
£20 buys takeaway containers for distributing cooked meals
£50 buys aprons and gloves for hygienic cooking
£100 buys a ‘healthy supper’ event for a community group
£250 pays for training for volunteer cooks and food handling
£500 buys a freezer for surplus food storage
£1000 buys a commercial fridge and shelving for a new Community Fridge

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