The Village Centre Community Fridge is open to everyone. It is open for business on a Monday & Friday morning, from 9am till 11am. It is located at the back of the building and is accessed by a side door showing the Community Fridge sign. Please bring a bag with you and remember to weigh out items you pick. There are always a couple of volunteers manning the Fridge, so please just ask if you need help.
Community Fridges are social sites of food education and sharing. They are housed in publicly accessible places – making fresh food that would otherwise be wasted freely available to the community. Surplus perishable food is collected by our volunteers from local businesses such as Waitrose, Tesco, Co-op, The Felix Project and Surplus to Supper. Food is collected twice a week and then made available to anyone in the community who would like it. Community Fridges exist to reduce food waste and foster a spirit of sharing and mutual support within a community. Our Community Fridge is open to EVERYONE!
Anyone can visit our Community Fridge.
Please come in and take items for yourself and your family, leaving enough to share with others. You are welcome to make a pay as you feel donation for your items but this is not essential. We like to monitor how much food is moving through our Fridge so please weigh out your food items on the sheet provided. We never know what food items will be collected from our suppliers. Items can include bread, pastries, fruit, vegetables, milk, yoghurt, chicken breasts & ready meals etc….
All items given to the Community Fridge must be within their Use By date but can be dated after the
Best Before date.
The Community Fridge is about giving and receiving, therefore you are able to give your own surplus food items as follows:
Items you are unable to give are as follows:
Our team of cooking volunteers happily slave away in our kitchen on a Monday lunchtime to cook some of the surplus food that is collected. They create yummy single portioned meals which are boxed, labelled and put into the Community Fridge so that you can select a home cooked meal to take away. For those that are infirm or vulnerable and not able to attend the Fridge, we have a weekly food delivery service on a Tuesday, where meals are delivered directly to peoples homes.
Our Community Fridge team is constantly looking at new ways to expand our services. We have recently introduced Children’s Cooking Classes and over the Summer we held a Family Afternoon Tea & Bounce session……all using food that would otherwise have gone to waste! Watch out in our News and Events section to see what new services or events are being held…..
Our Community Fridge project relies on more than just donations. The project is run by dedicated teams of volunteers that handle a variety of tasks, from fridge maintenance to food transportation, cooking our surplus food and social media management.
Would you consider donating your time to help our project grow and flourish?
Food Collections from Waitrose, Tesco & Co-op in Egham and Old Windsor on a Thursday evening and Sunday afternoon & evening.
Meeting volunteers arriving with food at the Village Centre on a Thursday & Sunday, to help weigh in and display food items in the Fridge, Freezer & cupboards.
Large food collection from the Felix Project in Park Royal twice per month on a Monday morning. (Ulez charges reimbursed if necessary)
Join our cooking team who run a rota to cook fresh meals on a Monday lunchtime. This is always a fun time as you never know what food you’re going to be confronted with….Ready, Steady, Cook……!!!
Manning our Community Fridge on a Monday & Friday morning between 8.30am – 11.15am. You will set the room up ready for opening at 9am, ensure the room is tidy and pre-opening checks have been undertaken. The most important part of the role is to meet and greet our lovely customers and help them weigh out food if needed. A friendly chat is part of our service!
Please contact 01784 471110 or email communityfridge@villagecentre.org.uk if you would like to get involved or receive more information on how you could help.
Our friendly team……
Our next FREE adult’s cooking class is on Friday August 16th.
For this class, we’ll be looking at some bright and flavour packed vegetarian Mexican recipes.
If you’d like to learn how to make calabacitas (a quick courgette & corn saute) quesadillas, and sopa de elote (street corn soup), then please email communityfridge@villagecentre.org.uk, and let us know if you have any allergies or dietary requirements.
See you there! 💚
Our next FREE KIDS’ COOKING CLASS will be held at The Village Centre on Thursday August 8th, from 10.30am to 12.30pm.
We’ll be taking a look at Brazilian food culture and making some classic dishes such as fejoida (a rich pork & bean stew) and brigadeiros (fudgy chocolate treats!).
Spaces are limited and will be assigned on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. To secure a space, please email communityfridge@villagecentre.org.uk, informing us of any food allergies.
We’ve recently been given the opportunity to collect surplus food from Aldi in Chertsey on Thursdays and Sundays. Collection would need to be done before 1pm.
ALSO we’re looking for someone who’s free for a couple hours on Thursday evenings, to help our collection volunteers process surplus food that they collect.
Please email communityfridge@villagecentre.org.uk if you can help us out!
A BIG thank you to all who joined our adult’s cooking class last month! We focused on what foods to eat for good brain & mental health, and everyone had a great time 💚
If you’d like to join our next class on Monday April 29th (12.45 – 2.45pm) please email communityfridge@villagecentre.org.uk to register.
Join us on Monday March 25th, for our next adult’s cooking class, run as part of Runnymede Borough Council’s ‘Let’s Talk About Food!’ programme
Come to meet new people, learn a new skill, and go home with all the delicious food you make. For this class we will be looking at how food can affect our mood, energy levels and sleep.
As such, we will be making Smoked Mackerel Fishcakes with a crunchy slaw, as well as a blueberry crisp for dessert!
To book your place, email communityfridge@villagecentre.org.uk,
Please let us know if you have any dietary requirements / food allergies 💚
Our first FREE children’s cooking of 2024 is set!
Come join us on Thursday February 15th, where we will be learning about Greece and making chicken souvlaki wraps & honey cake.
To book your spot, please email us at communityfridge@villagecentre.org.uk (please also inform us if your child has any food allergies).
Alternatively, you can call us 01784 471110 to book a place. Please be quick, as these classes fill up fast!
Thank you to everyone who attended our cooking class yesterday, and a special thank you to our volunteers who helped out 💚
Why not join us at our next adult’s cooking class on February 26th!
Our next FREE adult’s cooking class will be held on Monday November 6th, 12.30-2.30pm
This class’s focus will be on beautiful beans & pulses and how they’re so easy to use in SO. MANY. DISHES!
We’ll be making delicious sausage & bean patties, as well as a cozy chickpea & leek soup.
Email us at communityfridge
@villagecentre.org.uk to book your place now! 💚
We are excited to announce the first in a series of free adult cooking classes to be held at The Village Centre. These classes aim to help individuals cook ‘budget friendly’ meals for themselves and families, looking at a variety of cuisines for inspiration.
In our first class, participants will be looking to Mexico, and learning how to make a delicous starter, main and dessert using low cost and pantry ingredients.
If you’d like to learn how to cook sopa de fideo, lush black bean enchiladas and churro crisps, then get in touch asap!
Email us at manager@villagecentre.co.uk to book your place now 💚
8.9 TONNES! 🤯😵😱
With your help, we saved almost 9000kg of surplus food from ending up in a landfill last year. That’s huge! That’s also 1 TONNE more than last year!! 🥳
Thank you for your support for so far, and here’s hoping we can make a bigger difference in 2023! 💚
#villagecentreenglefieldgreen #community #rhul #communityfridge #reducefoodwaste #wastenotwantnot #englefieldgreenies #lovefoodhatewaste #thefelixproject #mutualaid #charityorganization
Thanks to your help, we redistributed 666 kilos of surplus food in October that would have otherwise gone to waste! 🥳🥳🥳
Thank you everyone for continuing to support our project to reduce food waste within the community 💚
REMINDER
If you have plastic takeaway containers, please return them to The Village Centre. We wash and re-use them, so please help us to be more eco friendly!
#reducefoodwaste #englefieldgreenactivities #villagecentreenglefieldgreen #charityorganisation #communityfridge #lovefoodhatewaste #communitykitchen #felixproject #hubub #surplustosupper
It’s that time again! FREE kid’s cooking class on Thursday October 27th, suitable for 7-11 year olds.
This time we’re having a look at Lebanese cuisine, and will be making keftas, fattoush salad and muhallabiyah (a simple milk pudding).
First come, first served on bookings so please grab your place asap.
To book, please email Ali Watts at manager@villagecentre.org.uk or call 01784 471110
| Day | Time | Title | Details |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | 9:00am-11:00am | Community Fridge | Open to All No referral needed Location: Village Centre back entrance |
| Friday | 9:00am-11:00am | Community Fridge | Open to all No referral needed Location: Village Centre back entrance |
