Food hub's mission to stop waste as it rescues 140 tonnes for those who in need

Those are the numbers behind Shrewsbury Food Hub, a charity which collects grub from supermarkets, farmers and suppliers, and distributes it throughout the town to save it going to waste.

From small beginnings - with founders Ali Thomas and Katy Anderson and a couple of car bootfuls of surplus items from Marks and Spencer, now the charity is celebrating its fifth birthday having moved to a big warehouse in Battlefield and having grown tenfold.

But what was the motivation to get this up and running?

"Food waste is a crime," said Ali, who along with Katy worked in the food waste industry before launching the hub. "We had asparagus from Mexico that had been flown here and ended up with us because they hadn't been eaten.

"It's all about stopping food waste. It's about getting this good food eaten."

It's the environmental cause that drives the endeavour, rather than feeding the needy as some might have thought. Though getting food into hungry bellies in Shrewsbury is a welcome by-product.

The volunteers contribute to a well-oiled machine to keep the hub going - team members hit the road as early as 6.30am to collect surplus food from supermarkets and suppliers before taking it back to base in Battlefield, where another team will store it and create selections for food shares, schools and other community groups.

Then trayfuls of food will be loaded into volunteers' cars to be taken and shared with the public.

"You have to get a good mixture if you can," said Mark Owen, a volunteer who joined the food hub about a year ago, just before the start of the pandemic.

He was at the Gains Park food share, which currently takes place on Tuesday mornings at the Bicton Heath Community Hall car park in Pensfold.

There was a queue stretching all the way round the corner of the community centre before volunteers had even set up the tables, and that's exactly how they like it.

They want Shrewsbury folk to know that everyone is welcome along to the food shares, as it's about stopping items going to waste.

Shay Corrigan, a volunteer at the Gains Park food share, said: "A lot of the time people donate money because they feel bad about taking stuff for free.

"But we want them to come and take stuff to stop it going in the bin."

Gains Park is one of 12 food shares a week that the group is running. Ali added: "We hold two food shares a day at the moment, except for Thursday and Friday when we have one. People can pay what they feel.

"We still support the food bank and Shrewsbury Ark, the women's refuge and people in assisted living."

Like for many charities, Covid-19 has thrown its challenges at the food hub, with its man power significantly diminished by its older volunteers needing to self-isolate. But numbers are back up now and things are on the up.

"We went from 80 volunteers at the start of the pandemic to 29. A lot of our helpers are older people who are retired and have a bit more spare time but they had to self-isolate.

"Covid has made things incredibly busy. So many distributors had stock going to waste.

"Lots of restaurants and catering outlets sent us their stock that they couldn't sell, so that's surplus food that we've been able to distribute. Shrewsbury School send us a load of food.

"We've now got 100 volunteers across the board from people doing admin, to driving and collecting from supermarkets and everything in between."

She added: "Lots of people come because they hate to see food go to waste. I think we've got a really good system. We are helping save a lot of food."

Visit shrewsburyfoodhub.org.uk for food share timetables and to learn how to get involved.