First community fridge for Western Isles

The first community fridge in the Western Isles has opened.

The facility is located in the Taigh Ceilidh adjacent to the Cearns shop in Stornoway.

A community fridge is a space where surplus food is shared for free, bringing people together to eat, connect, learn new skills and reduce food waste.

Community fridges are usually stocked by local businesses sharing food that wouldn’t otherwise be sold in time, fresh produce from local gardeners, and food gifted from households.

The volunteers supported by CLD (Cnes) and the Stornoway North community development worker have amalgamated the food bank located in the Cearns and supported by the Eilean Siar food bank into the Taigh Ceilidh to run alongside the community fridge.

In addition a clothing bank and baby essentials are available.

Visitors to the community fridge will be able to take advantage of the warm safe space that is provided along with free wi-fi and laptop access.

There’s also free tea, coffee, soup and rolls.

The facility is open every Wednesday and Friday 11am-1.30pm

Community fridges are independent community assets, set up, owned and managed by not-for-profit and community-led organizations. Each is unique to its location and the community and volunteers who run it.

Environmental charity, Hubbub, coordinates a growing network of community fridges across the UK.

The charity supports each fridge with health and safety, design assets and access to discounted fridges and freezers.

A recent partnership with Co-op has funded 350 more fridges with the aim of expanding the network over 500 in total by the end of 2022.

Supporting the Stornoway North Community Fridge are local businesses Blackhouse bakery and both Co-op stores.

First community fridge for Western Isles

3 November 2022