A NEWTOWN initiative to reduce food waste and provide meals for the community has reached its five month anniversary.

Newtown Community Cafe, an initiative started by town churches, started in October to support people from the community who might benefit from regular access to a meal and a welcoming social environment, as well as the need to address the problem of surplus food from stores.

As a result, hundreds of people have been through the doors at the pop-up cafe at the Methodist Church on Back lane, and tonnes of food have been re-used for the benefit of the community which might otherwise have gone to waste.

“It’s an initiative that started out last year,” explains volunteer and organiser Andrew Bond.

“A group of us came together in the summer and very quickly it was clear that there was interest from groups of people other than just the churches, and there are representatives from groups like Ponthafren and PAVO, Kaleidoscope and the Salvation Army, so there’s a broad base of people involved.

“We set up with two key aims. The first was to provide food for those who might need it, at an affordable rate, so we started on a sort of ‘pay as you feel’ type model based on one which we’d seen in Aberystwyth.

“The second aim was to address the need of dealing with food waste and food surpluses, and the supermarkets are very keen to work with charities on that.

“What we’re seeing is two broad client bases – one is older people who are coming in as a meeting point, and also other people who are more vulnerable and who have housing issues.”

Each Tuesday, volunteers head to Tesco, Morrisons, Iceland and Evans Café to collect food before passing the details to volunteer chefs who come up with a new menu for each week based on the ingredients at hand.

One of those is volunteer Nathan Taylor, who is hoping the initiative will lead to employment opportunities in a commercial kitchen.

“I’ve cooked for large groups before at college, but it’s a chance to get hands on for me in a proper kitchen,” he said.

“I’m in my third week here and I’m really enjoying it so far.”

County Councillor and Powys Anti Poverty Champion Joy Jones said it was an ‘absolute privilege’ to be invited to the community cafe’s open day.

“What a wonderful idea to able to turn the food that has been felt over from the supermarkets each week into delicious nutritious meals for anyone who visits the cafe,” she said.

“I was pleased to hear it isn’t just a place for a few; it is open to anyone living in the area who would like to pop in and have a meal.

“This is a fantastic idea for Newtown and it great to have this cafe available.” to help anyone and I am really pleased as it can help eradicate loneliness and support anyone in need of a meal. “The bounce is that food isn’t going to waste and being thrown away by the supermarkets

Everyone was extremely friendly and I meet some lovely people on my visit and I look forward to visiting again soon. Well done to everyone who has put this community cafe together for the residents of the area

n The Newtown Community Cafe is open at the Methodist Church on Back lane on Wednesdays from 11am. If you’d like to know more or get involved call organiser Andrew Bond on 07745598593.