Littlehampton Community Fridge is part of the Faredivide network, serving as an accessible community space for anyone and everyone in the Littlehampton area. They distribute affordable surplus food to all who come to their daily fridge offering. Customers can purchase a bag of food at the fraction of the retail price, making it a more afforable way for people to fill their cupboards.
Their endeavour to reduce waste meant that by February 2022, they had saved 614 tonnes of food, preventing the release of 2100 tonnes of carbon dioxide through food waste disposal. As well as being environmentally friendly, the food they provide is invaluable to those in need.
“It’s quite a massive resource when things are really tight. And actually, when you’re having a bad week, you can feed your family for a whole week.”
Beyond providing food, the Littlehampton Community Fridge’s value in offering a social space can not be emphasised enough. Many beneficiaries appreciate the sense of community above all.
One expressed that they find the place “extremely important… because I live on my own, and may not see anybody for a whole day or for several days. But coming here you meet people and you might meet them later on, you know, go out for a drink. So it’s quite nice, it’s so social.”
Hayley, head volunteer, emphasised: “They [beneficiaries] will be here 3-4 hours before we open, chatting and doing things. It’s very much community based here.” She also spoke about the value she personally finds in it: “For myself, I suffer from mental health conditions… [but] this is my happy place. I love it here. The support from the other volunteers keeps me up and going, there’s quite a few of us that have our own issues, but here we can work and help people without getting too involved. So yeah I love it… It gives me my life back. Really has over the last four years, really has given me my life back.”
The focus on community extends to the Second Chance Cafe, which runs every other week. Louise runs the cafe using surplus food to prepare hot meals, providing a space for people to enjoy food and form meaningful connections. One beneficiary shared their experience of the food they’ve had:
“Red pepper and tomato soup, that was really nice. Any soup in fact! They do a nice chicken or meat pie, or vegetables. We have something nice and sweet at the end of it, like banoffee pie.”
“It’s literally to stop food going to a landfill. So it’s for anybody, not just people who need it, but for anybody who wants to pop along, save some money and get some good food.”
“Our deliveries and collections of food from FareShare Sussex & Surrey have enabled us to support our Littlehampton Fridge-On-Tour pop-up community fridges, as well as our main hub, the Littlehampton Community fridge. This means that we help hundreds of people a week in Littlehampton and surrounding areas to access a variety of different foods, which can help with the current cost-of-living crisis for many of our visitors. We are also using frozen food to use in our new LA Second Chance Café.”
To help the Littlehampton Community Fridge get a new freezer, you can donate to our crowdfunder appeal.