A new community fridge project to be housed at Uppingham Town Hall is almost ready to launch to reduce food waste and make surplus food available to anyone who needs or wants it.

Root-and-Branch-Out is setting up and running the community fridge, backed by Uppingham Town Council and linked to Hubbub, a national network of community fridges.

A fridge and a freezer, purchased from Knights of Oakham, have already been installed in the town hall in readiness for Uppingham Town Council to decide the opening date at its full council meeting on Wednesday (2 Sept).

Root-and-Branch-Out, a Rutland based community interest company which engages the county's communities in food projects, nature and the environment, is aiming towards opening the project in September.

The fridge and freezer will be stocked with 'free' surplus food from supermarkets and other food suppliers in Uppingham and staffed by volunteers.

The project has received a £3,000 grant from the Community Foundation's Coronavirus Support fund and a further grant from WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme).

Root-and-Branch-Out has run a food surplus project for more than three years, mainly focused around the Fill Yer Boots breakfast café at Uppingham Cof E Primary School.

Since the coronavirus outbreak it has been supporting families in need during lockdown.

While the breakfast café was closed, the project volunteers have been collecting surplus food from local supermarkets and redistributing to several Rutland schools, which then gave food parcels to families in need.

Claire Crowley, director of Root-And-Branch-Out, said: "Some people in our community found the lockdown to be a huge struggle, and we have been able to address a local need for assistance.

"The community fridge project has been set up to ensure that families in need have food support for the foreseeable future."

Root-and-Branch-Out has plans to set up a second community fridge in Oakham and is actively looking for a suitable location.