Our depot is at the centre of our activities, providing us with a space to safely collect, sort, store and redistribute the rescued food we provide to the community. Seven days a week, our volunteers collect food from local supermarkets and other food businesses and bring it back to our depot. Our walk-in chiller and freezer allow us to safely handle large volumes of varied food types including ready meals, meat, and dairy. From here, the rescued food is redistributed to our 65 community partners who support disadvantaged and vulnerable people in our community. Using data from our partners, we estimate that our food reaches at least 3,300 people a week. Our depot is the critical hub of our operation, and we cannot serve our community without it. Heightened rent costs and rising energy costs threaten the future of our food saving mission. The annual cost of renting our depot is £17,100 and our utility costs are expected to double later this year.

What we'll deliver:

• Provide surplus food to 65 Charities, community groups and Foodshares
• Support 40 local food businesses with food waste reduction
• Mitigate over 300 tonnes of damaging greenhouse gases between 01.07.24 and 31.03.25

Why it's a great idea:

Our depot provides a home to our operation which helps the environment by reducing food waste, preventing the release of unnecessary greenhouse gases. Last year, we rescued 214 tonnes of food, mitigating 586 tonnes of greenhouse gases CO2 equivalent. We also save our 65 community partners money and helps improve the health and wellbeing of their beneficiaries. Schools can offer free toast and fruit to children who have not had breakfast, improving their readiness to learn; food banks can offer fresh produce to provide more nutritious food parcels; and groups like Shropshire Mind and Shropshire Supports Refugees can overcome social isolation by bringing people together for a meal or coffee morning. The surplus food saves our groups on average 44% of their food budget. Some groups rely entirely on the food we supply to be able to provide meals or refreshments for their beneficiaries. None of this would be possible without our depot.

Steps to get it done:

• Cover 1 month's rent and utilities costs
• Cover 6 month's rent and utilities costs
• Cover full 8 month's rent and utilities (duration of this project)