A FAMILY-RUN Somerset farm shop is making weekly donations of surplus stock to a Community Fridge to help people struggling with feeding themselves and their families (July 2025).
Rumwell Farm Shop, on the A38 between Taunton and Wellington, is giving items to the Community Interest Company Foodsave for its Hemyock Community Fridge just over the border in Devon.
Peta Dayus-Jones, Centre Manager at Blackdown Healthy Living & Activity Centre where the Community Fridge is located, explains: “It’s wonderful that Rumwell Farm Shop is donating any spare fresh fruit and vegetables and homemade baked items, as well as other products it has, to help us support rural communities in need.
“While it’s distressing that society needs support from projects like this, it’s great that with the help of Rumwell Farm Shop and other businesses, we’re helping feed people in a climate-friendly way, and for free.”
Devon-based Foodsave launched five years ago and focuses on creating zero food waste communities, providing free food for anyone that wants it and using donations of perfectly useable food from businesses and individuals.
Lucy White, Shop Manager at Rumwell Farm Shop, says: “We’re delighted to assist with such a great initiative and to support food waste reduction. Many rural communities have been hit particularly hard by the cost-of-living crisis, so Foodsave’s openness to all means that everyone who needs to will be able to freely access the items we donate.
“Community Fridges, like the one we’re supporting at the Blackdown Healthy Living & Activity Centre in Hemyock, ensure surplus good food gets eaten and not wasted. Food going to waste is a large contributor to climate change, so by donating to the Community Fridge we’re playing our part in helping the environment.”
For further details, please visit www.rumwellfarmshop.com. For more on Foodsave CIC, please visit www.foodsave.org.uk and for Blackdown Healthy Living & Activity Centre, please visit www.bhlac.org.uk.
