Mobile food hub goes electric thanks to South Cambridgeshire District Council’s green grant

A new electric vehicle has been launched by a mobile food hub that ensures residents impacted by the cost of living crisis have access to affordable food.

The mobile food hub stops by villages across South Cambridgeshire and has made more than 1,500 visits since starting last year.

It has now launched a new electric vehicle, thanks to funding from South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Zero Carbon Communities Grant.

The hub is coordinated by Hope CIC, a not-for-profit organisation based in Cambourne. Hope CIC successfully bid for £20,000 of seed funding from the council to begin the project last summer.

It has now been awarded £15,000 to help with the cost of an electric vehicle to replace the current diesel van it has been operating from.

Hope CIC estimates the van will travel more than 20,000 miles a year, saving around 4,800kg of carbon when compared to running a diesel van.

Mahesh Hettiarachchi, director and founder of Hope CIC, said: “Our team of staff and volunteers have supported residents to ensure no one goes without food, support or socialisation. We are always looking for volunteers to help run our various projects which includes supporting at one of the mobile food hub locations.

“Donations of non-perishable food or financial contributions are always welcome too, so if you would like to contribute in any way, please get in contact and check out our website or Facebook page.

“Being green is very important to Hope CIC – we reduce the amount of food going to waste and recycle at every opportunity, we have a second-hand clothes ‘thrift shop’ as part of our community café, have organised upcycling events to educate people on how to give furniture a spruce up, coordinate a bike surgery every Saturday to repair and maintain bicycles through the summer, and now we can go a step further and reduce our carbon emissions in the new electric vehicle.”

Hope CIC raised an additional £26,880 through fundraising which was helped with match funding from the Aviva Community Fund, and Crowdfunder Cost of Living Fund. This, together with the council funding, helped to purchase the van, as well as the fitting out. It will also help with the ongoing running costs.

The new vehicle is also larger and has been kitted out with shelving. This means the hub can be properly stocked with food and essential items and people can shop just as they would in a supermarket.

The hub currently visits seven locations across South Cambridgeshire every week: Duxford, Fowlmere, Fulbourn, Linton, Orchard Park, Papworth and Willingham. A new location has been confirmed in Northstowe and the hub will start visiting from mid-August.

Fowlmere and Northstowe are funded by their respective parish and town council. The other villages were selected from the council’s deprivation data mapped against locations of other foodbanks in the district, to ensure it bridged the gaps in existing provision.

Service users at Duxford are excited to visit the new hub.

Patricia said: “I’ve been dealing with Hope for the last year, and I’m so grateful for the service that they provide and the staff are lovely. It’s a great opportunity to meet up with everyone for that hour, not only for OAP’s but for everyone. We hope for it to carry on long into the future.”

Emma added: “It’s a great service – it helps me financially and prevents food going to landfill. The staff are lovely, friendly and welcome everyone.”

The hub is stocked with fresh fruit and vegetables, essential items such as canned foods, pasta, rice, cereal, and long-life milk. Personal hygiene, sanitary, and infant products are also available, plus necessary household cleaning items such as laundry detergent. All items are sold at below retail price, with some offered for free to help people with the rising grocery prices.

The hub is different to a typical foodbank as no vouchers or referrals are needed. Any resident struggling with increasing costs, including those who live outside of these villages, can access it by turning up on the day and completing a short registration form.

Cllr Henry Batchelor, the council’s lead cabinet member for communities, said: “The Mobile Food Hub has been a lifeline for residents that continue to feel the financial squeeze of the cost-of-living crisis, ensuring healthy, essential and affordable food is available each week. It’s great that it is accessible for anyone to use too, particularly those who may not be able to travel to their nearest foodbank or food hub.

“The new electric vehicle is a positive step to reduce our carbon footprint, expand the service to more residents, whilst also tackling food waste by distributing fresh food that is donated by supermarkets that would have ended up in landfill. We are proud to continue to work closely with the team at Hope CIC to ensure this service continues supporting our residents.”