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Refrigerated Van for Northwich Produce

Funded on Spacehive 24 May 2022 Delivered 21 September 2022

Impact data and claims within this report are provided by the project creator and have not been independently verified by Spacehive.

Refrigerated Van for Northwich Produce

Northwich Community Support By Northwich Community Support

The number of visitors to our no food waste initiative has tripled since November. At times we have refused fresh produce because we lacked an appropriate van for transportation and refrigeration

Hartford Delivery stage

25
backers
£34,541
raised
funded icon
This project was funded on 24 May 2022!

If NCS had a refrigerated van we could dramatically increase our fresh and chilled produce collections to meet the growing need in Northwich. Currently we have a small army of 50 unpaid volunteers who will fold down their vehicle seats and operate like a little tardis and cram in as much produce as they can. This means it takes us a multiple trips and a very long time to get produce to our hubs. In some cases, for food safety and logistical reasons, we have to reject produce that is very much needed in Northwich. Sometimes our hubs run short of produce meaning some needy people leave empty handed. Produce we cannot collect is then often taken by other organisations who do have the logistics and moved out of the town or ends up in landfill. The ongoing running costs of a refrigerated van have been estimated and budgeted into the NCS finance plan for 3 years. We are seeking cover for two years of these estimated costs.

What we'll deliver:

  • NCS will increase the volume and variety of perishable produce to the people of Northwich
  • Our existence will be made more visible and more people in need will access our food hubs
  • Less food waste will go to land fill
  • We will continue to comply with food hygiene throughout the year

Why it's a great idea:

In the current climate of rising inflation, poverty and COVID recovery there are some simple solutions to help the Northwich community stretch their budgets.The NCS army of unpaid volunteers, use local and national contacts, to locate, collect and process surplus food, which would otherwise go to landfill and distribute it to our community via a small network of hubs. Times are tough, but the people of Britain are proud. Foodbanks carry a stigma and are anecdotally 'for people on benefits' but we all know there are a people in the grey areas inbetween. We allow people to work with us as a no food waste initiative to reduce the towns carbon footprint and as a by product, make the weekly shop a bit easier to manage. Fruit and veg are often the first produce to be stock rotated and users of our hubs report a substantial increase in the consumption of fresh food items. Patrons are eating better, fresher food and stretching their food budget while reducing the towns carbon footprint.

Steps to get it done:

  • Define vehicle requirements, size specification, operating limitations and driver pool
  • Identify suitable vehicle types
  • Cost suitable vehicles
  • Acquire vehicle

Gallery

Location Hartford

About the space

NCS Hub Coverage

Council

Cheshire West and Chester Council

How will the money be spent?Total £34,246

Refrigerated Van - £27,000 (79%)
2 years Running costs - £3,760 (11%)
2 years Insurance - £2,000 (6%)
2 years Maintenance - £900 (3%)
Other - £586 (2%)

Costs Breakdown

This shows how money raised for the project will be spent. These costs have been confirmed by the project's Delivery Manager and verified.

79%
Refrigerated Van
£27,000
11%
2 years Running costs
£3,760
6%
2 years Insurance
£2,000
3%
2 years Maintenance
£900
2%
Other Read More
£586
  • Spacehive fees
    £481
  • VAT
    £96
  • Transaction fees
    £10

Overfunding

This project is enabled for overfunding. If the project hits its funding goal before the end of the campaign period, any extra funds raised will be spent (in order of priority) on:

  • extra refrigeration
  • premises
  • running costs

Total £34,246

Our Volunteer List

We're currently looking for people to offer skills and time to develop our project! Check out the list of what we need below and then use the 'Volunteer' button to the right to get involved.

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