Dereham Community Fridge 640
Christian shop hosts Dereham's new community fridge

This week a new community fridge was installed at Green Pastures Christian bookshop on Dereham High Street as part of a growing initiative in Breckland to tackle food waste.

On Monday, April 16 a new community fridge was launched in Dereham hosted by Christian bookshop, Green Pastures.
 
Local residents can help themselves to the contents of the fridge, which is simply a convenient venue for local businesses to donate food that is past its sell-by date but within its use-by date.

The community fridge is an initiative of Breckland Council and Love Dereham.  Hosting the new community fridge adds to the mission of Green Pastures bookshop to be a Christian outreach on the High Street. With its large shop front, its spacious premises, contemporary resources and friendly staff, Green Pastures seeks to be a place of support, welcome and hospitality as well as a place to buy Christian resources and gifts.

Lance Birks, Chairman of the Trustees at Green Pastures said: "We are delighted to have been asked to host the Dereham Community Fridge initiative. It fits well with our aim to be more than just a Christian bookshop: we are a Christian presence on the High Street in Dereham. So, it is great to be able to welcome people who come into the shop for whatever reason.

“We know many have been pleasantly surprised and helped as they explore what we offer, not only through the range of our stock, but also by way of friendship and encouragement. We trust, therefore, that those who benefit from the positive work of the Community Fridge will experience the facility in an environment of welcome and helpfulness."

The community fridge in Dereham builds on the continuing success of fridges installed in Watton, Thetford and Swaffham over the last five months. In the first three months Breckland's first fridge, installed in Wayland House in Watton, collected and distributed around 650kg of food and, in their first two months of operation, the fridges in Thetford and Swaffham have ensured that a further 600kg of food that would have been wasted was put to good use by local people.

Cllr Paul Claussen, Breckland Council Executive Member for Place explained: "Community fridges are for use by everyone. Whether you've forgotten to bring your lunch to work or perhaps just want to drop in to see if there is anything you could use towards an evening meal, everything in the fridges is there to be used - for free. No one likes to see good food go to waste so, whether you are a local food retailer or someone who could make use of donations, please take advantage of this new community fridge and help reduce food waste."

The new Dereham fridge can be used during the opening hours of Green Pastures, Monday - Friday 9:30am - 4pm, and Saturday 10:00am - 4pm.

The Council is now looking to install a community fridge in Attleborough and is asking local organisations who could host a fridge to get in touch. Suitable venues should be wheelchair accessible and in a central location. If you can help call Steve Hitchman on 01362 656870 or email steve.hitchman@breckland.gov.uk.

Photo: Members of the Green Pastures team including Managers Richard Shand and Irene Humphry with Anita Clarke from Love Dereham. Courtesy of Love Dereham.