Rutland Community Fridge launched a new fridge this week, Wednesday 27 March, and Rutland's High Sheriff was there to mark the milestone for the local food waste initiative.

Rutland Community Fridge is run by Root-and-Branch Out, a local food and education charity working towards supporting residents and young people across Rutland.

The project sees volunteers collect food waste from local shops, bakeries and businesses for the local community to collect on a pay-as-you-feel basis.

On top of the Community Fridges in Oakham and Uppingham, throughout the winter months the team run a Souper Space - serving a hearty meal of soup made by volunteers with waste ingredients - from Uppingham Town Hall on Fridays from 1pm.

All are welcome at these events, which are not only for those on the hunt for affordable food-shop alternatives, but aimed at reducing food waste.

The new fridge can be found at Victoria Hall, 39 - 39b High Street, Oakham. Image credit: Root-and-Branch-Out CIC.

Following a public survey, the team found that there was a growing demand for an evening community fridge that 9-5 workers could attend.

As such, they took the leap and launch a new fridge, with the support of Community Organisations Cost of Living Fund (CCLF) Government funding, The National Lottery Community Fund and their busy team of volunteers.

The new evening fridge launched on Wednesday evening at Victoria Hall, where it will be held weekly from 5:30pm - 7pm.

Rutland's High Sheriff, Geraldine Feehally, attended the launch event, where residents flocked to catch the new initiative and help the charitable organisation reduce food waste in the local area.

For more information visit the Root-and-Branch Out website.

Residents can continue to use the Oakham Community Fridge, which runs from Oakham Station on a Friday from 10 - 11:30am, and the Uppingham Fridge, which can be found at Uppingham Town Hall from 1:30 - 3pm every Friday.

Find out more, including how to support the scheme, on the Community Fridges Facebook page.