Merton’s Community Fridge

Merton’s Community Fridge, located at Morden Baptist Church, is a long-term sustainability initiative by Sustainable Merton, Merton’s leading environmental charity, to reduce food poverty and fight food waste in the borough. It’s essentially a big fridge where fresh surplus food is donated and redistributed to the community, which, since its launch in May, has quickly become a lifeline for residents affected by the Covid-19 food crisis.

Despite lockdown restrictions easing, many residents are expected to face food poverty for a long time to come. However, there has been an amazing borough-wide community response to support people throughout the pandemic and Merton’s Community Fridge will continue to be part of the solution, providing access to fresh, nutritious food and stopping good food from going to waste for a fair, healthy, green recovery. Residents are invited to visit the Fridge on Thursday afternoons, from 2 – 4pm, to receive a free food parcel and warm welcome from our Fridge Friends.

Merton’s Community Fridge, located at Morden Baptist Church, is a long-term sustainability initiative by Sustainable Merton.

Sustainable Merton’s Community Champions, a group of 73 local residents passionate about improving our environment, have played a key role in establishing Merton’s Community Fridge; from raising an amazing £600 through their fundraising efforts to handing out food parcels and offering a friendly ear during these isolating times to collecting surplus food from local supermarkets and delivering to the Dons Local Action Group for emergency distribution to residents. Thanks to the time they have generously given to help the Merton community, they have distributed over 1,735kg of food, saving 5,550 Kg of CO2, and provided food assistance to almost 50 families since the start of the pandemic. Sign up to become a Community Champion​ today!

Community Champions Project Manager Rachael Edwards at Sustainable Merton commented: “​I am so thankful for the time and effort that our Community Champions have contributed to Merton’s Community Fridge during this time of crisis. They have truly demonstrated the meaning of “Community”. A key aim of our Community Champions initiative is to build social capital and connect communities through environmental action and we have been delighted to hear from our Champions that being involved has given them ​a sense of belonging and empowerment in their neighbourhoods.”

Sustainable Merton’s Community Champion Sebastian Rojas

For more information​ about receiving a free food parcel, donating food, or volunteering with Merton’s Community Fridge, please visit ​www.sustainablemerton.org​ or send an email to ​communityfridge@sustainablemerton.org​.

Contributor: Sustainable Merton