Waste Not, Want Not
2023-12-12 • No comments • • Perth City
Letham4All operates Community Fridge Projects in the Letham, Muirton, and Moncrieff areas of Perth City, collecting good surplus food from local supermarkets and suppliers to prevent going to waste. All the food is distributed, free of charge in the 3 community fridges and also shared with partners such as Martha's Kitchen and Giraffe to be used and prepared in their kitchens for free distribution in the community. Around 350 people a week access food from our Community Fridges and last year we prevented 5.4 tonnes of good food from going to waste, saving 13.5 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Initially, Letham4All collected only ambient fresh food products, bakery, unprepared fresh fruit and vegetables, etc, however, we have been testing our ability to collect fresh prepared food products such as ready meals, meat and meat products, fish, and other prepared food products. To carry out this test we have been lucky enough to borrow a blast freezer from Giraffe Check-In Works and have all the necessary environmental health policies and procedures in place to allow this to happen. By being able to blast freeze food on the evening of collection we are preventing more good food from going to landfill, as well as providing valuable sources of protein into people's diet. All the Community Fridges have freezers where the food can be accessed free of charge by local people.
We now need to return the borrowed Blast Freezer and are seeking funding to purchase our own, now we know that we can operate the collection and distribution of fresh foods safely and that these products are valued by people who access the Community Fridges . Very soon, we will be operating our Community Kitchen in the new Letham Community Hub and we will also use the blast freezer to enable surplus food to be processed and frozen for future use, such as bread, vegetables, etc.
Mens Shed Insulation and Heating
2023-12-21 • No comments • • Kinross-shire
At the Kinross and District Mens Shed,Charity we are based in an old uninsulated building.
We have a very good attendence , of individuals, and groups, .(eg- sparks)
Being a charity, we are reliant on grants and donations to enable us to continue our work, of looking after mens health and wellbeing.
Unfortunately, with the high cost of heating, a boiler that was condemned 2 years ago, shortage of radiators,and non existent insulation, we are throwing money through the roof,,-* trying to keep the building warm for our shedders.
In terms of helping those with the Cost of Living, our shed is open to all men and has no membership or session charge. We also run a warm spaces where we offer warm refreshments for all men and women. We provide information on welfare rights with support from local workers; heating costs through the Heat project and are planning to commence cooking classes in future.
If successful, in our application for funding, we would be able to insulate the roof , replace the boiler, with an efficient one, replace the radiators,and reduce our heating costs by a large margin, making the building far more efiicient, and confortable for the participating groups. By reducing our running costs, we will then have more funds left for our community work