The Mobile Food Hub that visits villages across South Cambridgeshire, has launched today in a new electric vehicle, thanks to funding from South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Zero Carbon Communities Grant.
Celebrating a year since its initial launch, the Mobile Food Hub has been highly successful in reaching communities hit hardest by the rise in the cost of living, ensuring residents have access to affordable food and essential items. In the last year, the van has received over 1,500 visits, with the number of visits per week continuing to rise.
The Mobile Food Hub is co-ordinated by Hope CIC, a not-for-profit organisation based in Cambourne. Hope CIC successfully bid for £20,000 of seed funding from the District Council to begin the project last summer.
£15,000 was awarded to Hope CIC through the Council’s Zero Carbon Communities Grant towards the purchase of an electric vehicle to replace the current diesel van that the Mobile Food Hub has been operating from.
It is estimated that the van will travel over 20,000 miles a year, saving around 4,800kg of carbon when compared to running a diesel van.
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. With the Zero Carbon Communities Grant and extra funding raised, this helped to purchase the van, as well as the proper fitting out, and towards the ongoing running costs.
Not only is the new van electric, therefore reducing carbon emissions, but it is also larger in size and has been kitted out with shelving. This means the Mobile Food Hub can be properly stocked with food and essential items and people can shop just as they would in a supermarket.
The Mobile Food 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 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.
The Mobile Food 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.
Fresh fruit and vegetables are sourced from a local farm and collected from supermarkets as part of the FareShare scheme where surplus or end of life products are donated.
The Mobile Food 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, South Cambridgeshire District 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.”
Cllr Brian Milnes, South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Lead Cabinet Member for Environment, said: "We are pleased to have helped to fund the electric van for Hope CIC’s Mobile Food Hub, seeing the vital work they do in supporting residents throughout the district. The Zero Carbon Communities grant scheme funds projects which, as well as reducing carbon emissions, benefit communities in a number of ways. The changes to the Mobile Food Hub are a great example of how organisations can reduce their carbon footprint and promote sustainability while benefitting people who need it the most.”
Hope CIC is a non-profit organisation that provides support services. Largely based in Cambourne, they run the Cambourne Food Project which provides a similar service to the mobile food hub at a permanent location. The shop is open three times a week at The Hub Community Centre in Cambourne. This service is also available for anyone to use. They also co-ordinate a community café to socialise with residents and offer free refreshments, digital hub to teach the basics of using current technology, and a signposting service to support with bills, housing issues, and white goods.
Director and Founder of Hope CIC, Mahesh Hettiarachchi, said: "We have achieved so much in the last year to have already upgraded the Mobile Food Hub to an electric vehicle and be able to expand our services further. 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 for more information.
“We are grateful for the support South Cambridgeshire District Council has provided to ensure the Mobile Food Hub is successful, and for the generous funding via the Zero Carbon Communities Grant. 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, co-ordinate 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.”
Service users at Duxford are excited to visit the new Mobile Food 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 said: “It’s a great service - It helps me financially and prevents food going to landfill. The staff are lovely, friendly and welcome everyone.”
Mobile Food Hub stops
Papworth
- Address: Car park behind Co-op, Papworth Everard, Cambridge, CB23 3UY
- Visits: Every Monday, 11.30am to 12.30pm
Fulbourn
- Address: The Swifts (community building), Haggis Gap, CB21 5HD
- Visits: Every Tuesday, 10.30am to 11.30am
Linton
- Address: Linton Village Hall, Coles Lane, CB21 4JS
- Visits: Every Tuesday, 12pm to 1pm
Orchard Park
- Address: Unwin Square, Cambridge, CB4 2AD
- Visits: Every Wednesday, 12:30pm to 1:30pm
Fowlmere
- Address: The Chequers pub carpark, High Street, SG8 7SR
- Visits: Every Thursday, 10am to 11am
Duxford
- Address: Duxford Community Centre, Hunts Road, Duxford, CB22 4RE
- Visits: Every Thursday, 11.30am to 12.30pm
Willingham
- Address: Willingham Sports Pavilion, West Fen Road, Duxford, CB24 5LP
- Visits: Every Friday, 12pm to 1pm
Northstowe
- Address: Location to be announced
- Visits: Day and time to be announced
For updates on the Mobile Food Hub timings and locations visit: www.hopeagainst.org/hopeonthegoschedule
We are pleased to announce that we have been shortlisted as a finalist for the APSE Service Awards 2024 for Best Community and Neighbourhood initiative for the Mobile Food Hub project. The winner will be announced at the awards ceremony taking place Thursday 12 September in Bristol.
Image: Mahesh Hettiarachchi (Director of Hope CIC), John Bridge OBE MStJ DL (Deputy Lieutenant of Cambridgeshire) and Cllr Bridget Smith (Leader of South Cambridgeshire District Council)
