New community fridge opens at Purton community hall

The Purton Community Fridge has been officially opened by Purton Parish Council Chairman, Ray Thomas at a celebratory opening event with additional coverage from BBC Points West.

The Purton Community Fridge is based in the lobby of the Silver Threads Hall where the Pip Community Cafe is run.

It was set up earlier this year by a group of volunteers, and has been funded by the generosity of local people through the project’s Just Giving page which has raised £550. The Purton Parish Council have also supported the scheme with a donation of £594.

The fridge is now open four days a week and receives donations of food destined for landfill from Co-op, One Stop, Purton House Organic Farm, and local residents. It offers both chilled and pantry items as well as toiletries and on occasion, dog food.

The community fridge underwent a 'soft' launch around four weeks ago, and has so far saved 335 kilos of food items from going to landfill. 

Louise Cordas, coordinator of Purton's Community Fridge, said: “There’s been such an amazing response to this Community Fridge. I think people were a little apprehensive at the beginning because they thought it was a food bank.

“But now, I think everyone realises that the fridge is the last stop before the food goes to landfill. It is open to anybody and everybody. Everything that you see in the fridge and the larder area has been donated either from local shops, or local residents.”

The official opening event welcomed around 40 people from the local community, as well as from Wiltshire Council, Local Policing, Pips Community café, the Co-op and One Stop Supermarkets, and Purton Council.

The event commenced with the ringing of a hand bell, before Chairman Cllr Ray Thomas gave a speech and formally cut the ribbon.

Chairman, Cllr Ray Thomas said: “This is such a worthwhile project. Purton Parish Council are most pleased and happy to support it in full, particularly in the current economic climate with the high cost of living and people relying on food banks across the country.”

A cheque of £693.33 was then presented by Pips Community Cafe to the Purton Community Fridge, which will help with ongoing costs including cleaning items, insurance, electricity, and training.

Dave Nettleton, Chair of Pips Community Cafe Purton explained: “Pips Community Cafe is a non-profit organisation that operates within Silver Threads, that I set up with my wife, and a great team of volunteers.

“At the end of each year, if there is money left over, or a surplus, then we donate it to charity or to local non-profit projects. A vote is taken by our team members and then the total is divided between the organisations selected, in a way that reflects the votes.

“This year we made a surplus of £8,000 and that has been divided, with £693.33 of the total going towards the community fridge. The whole of Purton has effectively helped towards this by being customers at Pips Community Café.”

More information about Pips Community Cafe can be found at https://www.facebook.com/pipscommunitycafe

The occasion was marked with tea and a celebratory cake made by local business Delicious Delights and cut by Purton Community Fridge volunteers Linda Buckland and Karl Cordas.

Two Purton residents, Olha Rozmaita and Tanya Yschenko, have recently moved to the village from the Ukraine. They both use the fridge and volunteer at Pips Community Cafe. 

Olha said: "We are very thankful for the people who have organised this community fridge, and the people who are collecting and donating food.

“We can find a lot of different produce and food items to help add variety to our cupboards and our diets. Also our children can always find something interesting that we can make meals out of. Every day, you can find something new and it’s like a lottery – you never know what you are going to get.

“People are so kind and helpful in Purton, and we appreciate our community.”

Comments and feedback from the community and Purton Parish Council showed equally strong support for the new project.

Cllr Sue Relfe added: “I’m amazed at the generosity of organisations in the village and the individuals who donate from their allotments. So many people are helping out, and this fridge has really shown what this community can do when it comes together

"The donations have been great as we don’t want people buying food to put in the fridge as that will defeat the object of it being a surplus community fridge.

“I heard the fridge were looking for volunteers to help do the pick ups and the cleaning. I put myself forward. The other fridge volunteers and I all had to complete a Level 1 course in food and hygiene to get a certificate, as we are handling the food.

“At the end of every week, we do a total weigh to feed back how much leftover food is being put into landfill. So far, the total has been zero every week! We have been so impressed with how much use the fridge has been getting."

One of the organisations that attended the opening ceremony to donate seasonal produce was Jubilee Gardens. 

Alicija Gliniak, Principal of Jubilee Gardens explained: "We are a horticultural training centre for people with learning difficulties. We grow vegetables and flowers in our garden and sell produce at stalls. We have come to donate some of our autumn produce as our pumpkins and squashes are in season now.

“Our students can learn about how to grow things, how to price items, and how to sell produce at a stall. We also have a teacher that comes three times a week to visit our members. We also do arts and crafts and are currently working on our chutneys for Christmas.”

More information about Jubilee Gardens can be found at https://www.facebook.com/Jubilee-Gardens-Project-1596558680559170

Lindsey Hall, coordinator at Silver Threads Hall, said she was pleased to see the success of the community fridge. 

She added: "The actual fridge was purchased with the grant money given to Silver Threads by the parish council. Silver Threads is a charity for elderly people over 60 years of age. There's only a small group of us as we’re very short on members at the moment.

“The hall was left empty during covid and Pips got in contact about using it to host its community café and from there, the frigde developed. It’s nice because its in the centre of the village and its being used by a lot of people.  Also having the fridge in the lobby area of the hall is discreet, so if people do not want to be seen using it, they can pop in, get what they need and then leave."

The community fridge is open to anyone and everyone to prevent waste going into landfill and to obtain free supplies during the week between 10.00am-4.30pm Monday-Thursday and 10.00am-1.30pm on Fridays.

To find out more information on supporting the voluntary community project, members of the public can follow the fridge's page on Facebook @ Purton Community Fridge