A new Community Fridge has been opened for residents of the Tamar Valley.

Conveniently situated behind the Co-op store and petrol station at Drakewalls on the A390, the fridge is open seven days a week for residents of the Tamar Valley as need remains high following the pandemic.

Run by the Tamar Valley Community Food Project in conjunction with housing provider LiveWest, the community fridge replaces the mobile community larder, which ceased operation at the end of March, having previously toured many areas in the parish such as Calstock, Harrowbarrow and St Ann’s Chapel once a week to give out free food to anyone in need of it.

Speaking at the opening event on Sunday, coordinator of the project Mai Evans stressed that the fridge’s primary purpose was to tackle food waste.

Mai said that the fridge, in its own purpose built shed behind the Co-op store was not a foodbank but would allow individuals and companies to donate surplus food to avoid food going to waste. This in turn would allow those in need to benefit.

She said: ‘We’ve had supermarkets such as the Co-op, Tesco and Lidl donating any surplus food they can’t sell on to the fridge project. Local individuals have been really kind in donating too, heeding encouragement to clear out their cupboards for tins and packages they won’t use so it’s great that so many people are embracing the concept and wish to help. That’s what it’s all about. This is even better than the mobile food larder as it’s accessible every day of the week.’

She added: ‘On Friday, we received confirmation that we have been registered as a community interest company which is fantastic news as it means we will have access to more funding streams.’

The opening event was attended by all those who have been instrumental in contributing to the fridge’s creation such as representatives from the Co-op, Callington Tesco community champion Will Turner and former champion Carrie-ann Bailey along with Calstock parish councillors Jim Wakem, Alex Polglase, Cornwall councillor Cllr Dorothy Kirk and local residents. The day also offered cream teas, face painting and a range of performances from Big Beat: a samba drumming and junk percussion group who play and create music using a variety of recycled junk such as shopping trolleys, water pipes, plastic barrels and items such as old kitchen sinks.

Co-chair for the community fridge project (and Calstock parish councillor) Alex Polglase, who is also coordinator of the foodbank in Callington, said at the opening event: ‘We knew the mobile larder was coming to an end but there was always a view to starting the community fridge, which we’re very lucky to have received lots of funding for, especially from Hubbub. The foodbank in Callington will help and support the fridge with donations.’

Hubbub is a charity helping to reduce food waste and wishing to empower communities, coordinating the world’s largest community fridge network, by helping to run 280 community fridges across the United Kingdom.

At a Callington Town Council meeting in March, Cllr Polglase reported that the mobile food larder had helped up to 200 people a week across the areas of East Cornwall and the Tamar Valley in which it operated, with an average of 72 users at its former weekly Wednesday session in Callington. The foodbank in Callington had received 371 referrals in 2021, when (pre-pandemic) in 2019 they received 263, indicating that the need for extra help for many local households has increased following the pandemic and the recent rises in food and energy prices.

Further information on the new community fridge can be found on the public Facebook group Tamar Valley Community Food Project (TVCP), by emailing [email protected] or about the community fridge network orchestrated by Hubbub on their website at: https://www.hubbub.org.uk/the-community-fridge?fbclid=IwAR1g6sxzV81LptT3-JbxAKRCXbye3o31otKfKku0UJfMMOLu18OkJY7EFT4