A Sheffield Community Hub will receive a £1600 grant from the council to support local residents in the new year.

Chapel Green Community Hub, based in High Green, runs a Community Fridge which works to distribute food to local residents and raise the importance of not wasting food.

The North Local Area Committee grant of £1600, taken from the Great North Fund, will go towards the running costs of the Hub and more services to local residents.

Angela Woodward, lead of the Community Hub and Fridge, said: “The funding will allow us to extend our services and continue to support social isolation and vulnerable families in East and West Ecclesfield.”

“On a weekly basis we save at least one ton of food going to landfill.”

The food is collected by a team of volunteers who take it from local supermarkets to distribute to local residents.

The Community Fridge also works with a company called ReFood, who collect any food they don’t give away to turn into fertiliser for farmers and electricity.

There are also other initiatives run by the Community Hub and Fridge which will benefit from the grant money.

The Community Fridge currently runs a ‘warm space’ for members so they can wait to collect food in a warm space, something that the Community Fridge hopes to continue.

Mrs Woodward said: “Members waiting can have a warm drink and hot food while they wait.

“This ensures they can have at least one hot snack and drink on Saturdays.”

The Hub also wants to reinstate the ‘Warm Coat Initiative’ they started last year, where people can swap or donate their old coat for a new one.

Mrs Woodward said that when this initiative was launched last year, 52 coats were redistributed in the first two weeks.

The Hub also has a shop for clothes next to the fridge where people can donate clothes. It hopes to encourage members to adopt more recycling with an ‘upcycling sewing initiative.’

Mrs Woodward said: “Our members can be taught how to sew and adapt old clothes, to be fashionable again with minimum or no cost.”