Langney Community Fridge provides a friendly and inviting space for members of the community. Providing a cafe and community fridge to the people of Langney. Run from Langney Community Centre for the last 10 years.
Volunteers offer customers 10 items for just £2, meaning people can access a variety of food affordably. Customers include older people, families and those living alone.
“It saves me loads of money. What I’ve got today, if I had to buy it you’re probably looking at easily £20 there, the pizza, the vegetables. So the money I’ve saved there I can put towards my heating, my bills and things like that which otherwise I wouldn’t be able to do”
“It saves me so much money because I wouldn’t be able to get a lot of this food otherwise”
“I don’t have a fantastic income and I like to be efficient with my money so it does help quite a lot, and I love the fact that I’m saving food that would go to the bin otherwise and I love being a part of it.”
Alongside the community fridge there is a cafe service which provides a friendly space for people to meet and enjoy a hot drink. The friendship club also provides a space for people who might otherwise be alone, to come together, meet new people and get support.
“Yes it’s nice to come and have a chat as well, with the regular people who come here”
Upon arrival they receive a random number and wait to be called up, in the meantime they can get a hot drink, a pastry or some soup, or speak with tech support and even browse a charity clothes rail. One volunteer who also benefits as a customer said:
“Living on universal credit is not the best thing in life, this is like a life saver. Coming here, choose 10 items for £2, it goes a long way. It’s good because it has a community feel, you know the layout here, it’s not just about coming in and grabbing your food for £2, it’s coming and being a part of the community.”
He adds that he used to attend a food bank but doesn’t anymore, and shares how important the variety of food is that he access from Langney Community Fridge:
“I think for me, and for a lot of people, there’s sometimes quite a lot of pressure, so maybe we live the whole weekend just on tins but you can come here today and get steak. Some people may not have a fresh steak or fresh pizza, I think it’s quite important. The dates on the food isn’t bad either, ”
Langney is an area which falls in the bottom 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in the country. With particularly low levels of deprivation in children and older people. Services like the community fridge help people who are living on this breadline, providing them with a dignified way to access affordable food.
You can read more about Langney Community Fridge on their Facebook page.