Welshpool surplus food still heading to Newtown as initiative stalls

Welshpool Town Council is frustrated that surplus supermarket food is still heading down the road to a Newtown charity despite pleas to support a struggling community initiative in the town.

Welshpool’s Community Fridge was launched at the Town Hall with great fanfare earlier this year as well as a £5,000 grant from Powys County Council.

But it soon hit the buffers after supermarkets in the town revealed that they already had an agreement in place with Newtown Food Surplus to provide them with items close to their sell-by date.

And in a report to the Town Council’s Operations & Development Committee last night, Town Clerk Richard Williams explained that it was still a struggle to fill the fridge due to the local snub.

He said that “a small amount of surplus food” was still being collected from Starbucks and Costa, and that other donations had been received, but painted a picture that the initiative was struggling.

“We have a long-running gripe that Newtown Food Surplus collects from Welshpool supermarkets and Welshpool supermarkets are not willing to transfer that provision to us,” he explained.

“Newtown Food Surplus said to us that we need to go to Newtown to pick up the food collected from Welshpool but that doesn’t make sense to us as it is food that should remain in Welshpool.

“The fridge did receive a very generous supply of food from West Bromwich Building Society that we went to pick up as well as a very large separate donation that was made privately. But we are looking into local outlets.

“Because we can’t target supermarkets we can target the more hyperlocal places that have food provision. The fridge is not over, it is on a journey and the destination is not yet reached.”

The Mayor, Cllr Bill Rowell, added that he had been contacted by local chapels keen to contribute to the Community Fridge from their harvest festivals.

He also added that the local supermarkets were keen to support, but had been told by their head offices that the deal was already in place with Newtown Food Surplus and that wouldn’t be changed.

“It’s not that the local branches are anti, but their system doesn’t favour us.”

The Community Fridge allows residents to help themselves to iteams of food located at the back of the Town Hall. It has faced issues throughout its short existence including reducing its hours due to one person regularly coming in to take all of the food available in one go.