Community Fridge labelled ‘white elephant’ as supplies run dry

The chair of a Welshpool Town Council sub committee that looks after the interests of the Community Fridge has labelled it a “white elephant” after it was revealed that Starbucks and Costa were no longer providing food.

Last month, it was reported that interest had dropped in the volunteer initiative that was launched at the Town Hall earlier this year to provide a place for unwanted food and drinks to be available for free to the public.

It was set up with a £5,000 grant from Powys County Council but appears to have run into trouble.

Reporting to councillors at the latest Operations & Development Committee meeting, Wendy Lewis, who oversees the initiative, explained that the two global coffee chains no longer had surplus food to give.

“They are tightening their belts it seems,” she said.

In response, the committee chair, Cllr Phil Pritchard, said: “It’s a big white elephant. There is nothing in there. The fridges are empty. I don’t understand it to be honest.”

Cllr Nick Howells explained that he had approached Tesco and Aldi with no luck, and Ms Lewis added that she was awaiting a response from Morrisons and a meeting with Newtown Food Surplus.

On that, Town Clerk, Richard Williams explained that when it was set up, Newtown Food Surplus had agreed to work with the Community Fridge as food collected from Welshpool’s Tesco was sent to Newtown.

“We did agree initially that it would come to us, so we just need to meet as we have the volunteers available now to unlock that gate,” he said.

The Mayor, Cllr Bill Rowell, was also concerned for the initiative’s future, adding: “The issue is that the Community Fridge can’t operate on what it gets from a few cafes, it does need the supermarkets.”

Ms Lewis will report back on progress at the next meeting.