Hub Zero Event Space

The Fridge of Free Stuff moved to a bigger space at The Sovereign in March 2023. The extra room is being used for ‘Hub Zero’ - a space to hold climate and sustainability-themed events, workshops and projects.

The space is also open for climate and environmental groups across Weston to use.

As part of Weston-super-Mare Town Council's climate commitments, made after announcing a climate emergency in 2019, fortnightly educational talks and workshops will be programmed on Saturday mornings at 10.00am.

Hosted by local community and climate change experts, some of these talks will be filmed for broadcast on the Town Council's social media and website, as well as the Fridge of Free Stuff Facebook page.

In addition to these talks the space is open for community meetings and workshops based around the climate crisis, low-carbon diets and sustainability in an effort to empower the community to develop local solutions to making the transition to net zero and a climate-resilient way of living.

If you would like to use the space please email:

communityfridgewsm@gmail.com

Cli​mate emergency

Why give away free food to everyone?

Through analysis carried out by Frome Town Council in 2019, for their community fridge, the potential impact is clear:

• The average community fridge redistributes around 500 kg of food per month, which equates to about 2.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions. The busiest fridges see around 4 tonnes of food passing through each month which equates to a saving of almost 17 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions.
  
• Over a year the average fridge will have avoided over 25 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions – meaning that across the UK network of community fridges an estimated total of 1,625 tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions are avoided.
  
• Food waste is generally overlooked as a big environmental issue yet it is responsible for 8-10% of the total human-caused greenhouse gas emissions globally.
  
• When food waste is disposed of it breaks down to release a gas that is around 50% methane and 50% carbon dioxide. Globally this contributes up to 70 million tonnes of methane each year – more than from coal mining and natural gas leaks combined, and almost as much as is emitted by farm animals.
  
• Up to 35% of food in high-income economies is thrown away by consumers.
  
• In the UK we waste 5 million tonnes of edible food every year.
  

Q. What is the Fridge of Free Stuff?

A. The Fridge of Free Stuff is part of a wider Community Fridge network across the UK. First trialled in 2016, there are now hundreds of fridges helping thousands of people to connect, access nutritious food, save money and reduce waste to combat climate change.

Q. How does it work?

A. We are a volunteer-run store providing food free of charge which otherwise would likely end up in landfill. Throughout the week, our volunteers travel around Weston-super-Mare to collect surplus food - mostly from supermarkets and local businesses. The food is then weighed and sorted before being displayed in the Fridge for the public.

We are also able to take surplus donations from allotments and households, for more information on what we can accept, click here.

Q. Who is the fridge for?

A. Anyone! The aim of a community fridge is to reduce food waste and redirect surplus food from landfill. Like all other fridges across the network, The Fridge of Free Stuff is open to all, and we encourage everyone to come in and play their part.

Q. Is it like a food bank, do I need a voucher?

A. Community fridges are very different to food banks. The aim is to reduce food waste, so it is surplus food, rather than donations that we collect. We love that we are able to help those in need by providing a way to save money on food, but there is no referral or voucher necessary to use the fridge.

Q. Who runs the Fridge?

A. The fridge has been made available by Weston-super-Mare Town Council and their partners, but is entirely run by volunteers with a passion for reducing food waste and combatting climate change.

Q. Can I drop-off food items from home?

A. Although the majority of food we receive is from supermarkets, we are able to accept donations from allotments and households too! However, we do ask that all packaged food is in good condition and within 2 days of its use by date.

We can accept homegrown produce, but you will be required to fill out a small form to confirm it's fresh and grown naturally without any nasty pesticides/fertilisers. We cant accept any windfall fruit, frozen or cooked food.

For more information on what we can accept, click here.

Q. Do you accept donations?

A. To continue operating, the fridge relies on grantfunding and public donations.

We welcome all donations towards the running of the Fridge of Free Stuff - you can drop it into our donation point in store, Via this link or contact ​us by email at communityfridgewsm@gmail.com

We are actively looking for local businesses to sponsor our fridges too, if you are a local business, or you know someone that might be interested, ​let us know!

Our volunteers. Without you, there would be no fridge!

Thank you to our suppliers:

• Aldi
  
• Lidl
  
• M&S
  
• Sainsburys
  

If you are a café, food store or supplier with regular surplus food

we'd love to add you to this list too.

and thank you to our partners:

• Co-op
• Booker
• ASDA

• Puxton Farm Shop
• Waitrose