Back in March 2020 Rotary in Northwich started working with what was to become the Northwich Community Support Group to help alleviate food waste and assist those in need during the Covid 19 pandemic.

During this time Rotary in Northwich volunteers would collect waste food and end of life food from Northwich Tesco & Waitrose supermarkets and transport the food to a central food hub where it was distributed at no cost to those in most need in the local community. The volunteers also delivered food packages to those people most in need who could not get out of their homes for a variety of reasons during lockdown.

This simple start has transformed itself into the Northwich Community Support Group which now provides food from four food hubs in the Northwich area. All these food hubs are manned by an army of friendly volunteers who give up their time free of charge.

Rotary in Northwich have continued to provide the logistical help and support to the Northwich Community Support Group, every week they organise a rota of volunteers, from their pool of 31 people, who most days of the week collect food from the local supermarkets and transport it to the food hubs.

More recently the volunteers have also been collecting food waste donated by Morrison’s supermarkets from their Distribution Centre on Gadbrook Park, Northwich. The amount of food needing to be collected from this site has meant that alternative transport was required to cope with the volume. Thanks to local Estate Agent Ian Storey, who made their van available to the volunteer drivers, this has meant the large volume of food can still be collected and delivered to the food hubs.

Last Easter a special appeal was made for Easter Eggs for children in the local community, again the response was massive and very generous, with supermarkets, shops, local businesses and individuals all getting involved with donations.

The work of the Northwich Community Support group and the Rotary in Northwich volunteers is promoted and communicated via Social Media and through the local press which has resulted in large queues of people forming outside of the food hubs to take advantage of the food on offer.

So much so that the mantra for the organisers has now changed to being a Zero Waste Food initiative, helping to reduce food waste throughout the Northwich area.

WELL DONE TO ALL CONCERNED.

If you would like to volunteer and assist, please send a Facebook message to either:

Rotary in Northwich – @RotaryNorthwichVR

Northwich Community Support Group – @NorthwichCommunitySupport