Karbon Homes partners with local primary school to launch affordable food club in Consett

 Volunteers from The Bread and Butter Thing Consett with staff from The Grove and colleagues from Karbon Homes.  

A primary school in Consett, County Durham, has partnered with North East housing association Karbon Homes to launch an affordable food hub for the community.

Karbon and The Grove have teamed up with food provision charity The Bread and Butter Thing (TBBT) to set up one of its food hubs in the school.

At the weekly food hub, members can access three bags of food, consisting of fresh fruit and vegetables, chilled items and cupboard staples from just £8.50. Healthy Start cards are accepted, and a number of non-food products are also available at a reduced price.

Rachel Crowe, Pastoral Support Officer for The Grove Primary School, worked with Karbon’s Community Investment Team to set up the food hub: “We started just over a month ago and the numbers have grown each week – we currently have 53 members and anyone who registers before 10 February cab get their first set for free.

“Initiatives like this are important for the community as money is so tight for everybody and this makes your weekly shop more affordable. We run it every week, even in the holidays, so even over Christmas and the summer holidays, when things are hard for families, the service is here for them.

“Both Karbon Homes and everyone at the school have been so supportive in setting this up. We’ve got safeguarding in place, so when people come to collect the food they’re not in the school, they come round the side of the building. There’s a great team of volunteers in place to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Karbon have also provided funding to buy resources, such as a trolley to help with moving the groceries from the van to the hall.”

TBBT looks to reduce food waste by taking the food surplus of supermarkets and redistributing it to their members.

Kathryn Rooney, Councillor for Consett North is supportive of the initiative:

“It’s great that food isn’t going to waste, it’s going to a good cause with struggling families able to get a week’s shopping.

“It has a big impact on communities. Some of the people who come in haven’t got much. As a The Bread and Butter Thing member, they can come along and get some good food. It gives them the opportunity to try foods that they wouldn’t normally eat or try cooking things in a different way. It’s also eliminating the amount of food that’s going to landfill which is hugely important for the environment.”

One couple from the community who have benefited from the service is Stephen and Ann Embleton: “It’s good value and it’s good for the community as well. We come along and get some groceries for our daughter as she’s got three kids. It really helps and means the kids are going to get a substantial meal.”

Karbon began working with TBBT in 2022 and over the last three years has funded the launch of two hubs in Newcastle and a third in Morpeth.

Paul Moralee, Community Investment Manager at Karbon Homes, said: “As the cost of everyday essentials like energy and food increases much faster than average incomes, community food projects like TBBT are becoming lifelines for our communities. We’ve provided £75,000 of funding for three of their hubs in the region and have seen first-hand the positive impact they have on these communities.

“With one of our hubs becoming available, we identified Consett as an area that could greatly benefit from it. Karbon has 500 properties in The Grove and Moorside areas of Consett, with both being higher than average areas of deprivation. We were keen to find a venue that could house a hub and Rachel and the staff at The Grove have been brilliant to work with and get this set up.

“This hub is already making a big difference to many residents. As word of mouth increases we hope it will provide a helping hand to help even more residents get through these difficult times.”

Anyone can join The Bread and Butter Thing membership and the initial sign up is free.

To register and either get in touch by email, hello@breadandbutterthing.org or text, 07507 237311, quoting their name, postcode and chosen hub. To find the nearest hub, visit www.breadandbutterthing.org