Cholsey Pavilion - Every Wednesday 2–5pm, run by volunteers
💥 For just £4.50/week, you get to choose up to 14 items
🙌 Anyone can join – it’s open to All
💳 Monthly Direct Debit
🔑 One-time £10 joining fee
🤝Join today: www.sofea.uk.com It is a weekly hub of swapping, sharing and supportive services within our wonderful village. A central feature of the larder is a weekly pop-up “shop” full of ambient, fresh and non-food items which are surplus to retailers/shops. We partner with local company, SOFEA, who specialise in collecting and re-distributing national surplus food. Your journey starts by first registering for a subscription to SOFEA (Visit sofea.uk.com) for a small and fixed membership fee. Once registered you’ll be invited to the Community Larder every Wednesday afternoon. On larder day...
On Wednesdays, volunteers set up the Community Larder using our delivery of surplus foods. Browse, select and take home a fixed number of items (e.g. up 14 items). To give you an idea of value for money, a £3.50 weekly membership cost can give you a selection of items which have a retail value of £12-15. The items on offer are perfectly fine to eat and use. Because they are surplus, and are otherwise destined for the landfill, everything selected is another win for the environment. Other core features of our larder will include item swapping (clothes, uniform, books, toys), information sharing and it will be a place to share a refreshment with neighbours and community members. We look forward to inviting clubs, societies and special guests along to share the great things they are achieving. Why do larders exist? We waste an awful lot of food in the UK. Did you know that (this year) larders have helped 68.46 million tonnes of food waste avoid the landfill in just one month? We are excited to bring you this fantastic opportunity to connect together, to do something positive to help reduce waste. The Cholsey Community Larder provides a non-means tested membership - anyone can join! We want to offer this as an affordable way to access healthy staple food, reduce food waste and improve wellbeing across the village. Where and when will it take place? When can I sign up? Cholsey Community Larder takes place every Wednesday afternoon at the Cholsey Pavilion Foyer 2.00pm- 5.00pm. We are also open 6.30 -8.00pm for an evening collection service - this is only for a defined group of pre-registered members. If you would like to join larder to use only this collection service, please email us in advance - we hold a limited number of spaces available for collection members to join us and we need more information to be able to pre-pack your collection "shop". Volunteers will be ready to meet registered members and welcome them to the weekly larder. Sign up via the Sofea website sofea.uk.com or directly via this link https://app.sheepcrm.com/sofea/membership
What do I need to bring? You must bring your own bags/boxes to take your items home. We would also need you to sign in at our check in desk. Do I live near enough to join in? Yes, if you live within 15 minutes of Cholsey Pavilion. If you live a little further away, visit the SOFEA website to find the nearest community larder near you. Who runs the Cholsey Community Larder? The larder is manned and operated by volunteers from the local community and is a fantastic project delivered by the Cholsey Volunteer Trust in partnership with SOFEA. The larder contents are distributed and delivered by SOFEA. SOFEA handle membership registrations, fees and accounts. Can I just turn up? Is it a food bank? The Cholsey Community Larder is not a food bank or community fridge. The food items on offer are only available to members in exchange for a membership fee. If you want to come along and find out about membership our volunteer team would be happy to help. Cholsey Volunteers run a food bank, which is a separate support service which includes provisions of food, support and supplies specifically working with individuals and families. Can I give my surplus food to the community larder? If you have surplus food you would like to donate - please donate to the foodbank which operates Thursday mornings. You can donate at Tesco anytime or bring it to the Pavilion on Thursday between 9-11am. We will be able to accept foodbank donations on larder day.
