A record-breaking day of donations at a Dundee community fridge is set to become the norm after a deal was struck with a food supplier.
West End Community Fridge opened earlier this year and gives people the chance to donate or collect goods in a bid to tackle food waste and poverty in the city.
The initiative is the first of its kind in Dundee, but organiser Gate Church said it will look at other areas if the Perth Road facility is a success.
And that now seems more likely as they received a whopping 300 kilograms of food in just one day last week.
Part of the influx in donations is due to a deal with retail supplier CJ Langs, who distribute to Spar stores across the country.
The firm reached out to the church after seeing news of the fridge launch. Any food that has too short a shelf life to send to shops will now go to the community fridge.
The record haul was quickly snapped up.
Lynsey Penny, project coordinator, said: “If you stand at the fridge for 20 minutes you see 10 different people.
“The demand for it is there.
“The new deal is great. We get all sorts of food now and with a few days, sometimes even seven days, shelf life.
“The big donations we saw last week are more likely to become the norm.
“We hand excess out to food banks and places like the community cafe in Whitfield so that it is spread out across the city.”
Ms Penny recently spoke in Dundee Rep about the work behind the fridge, as well as other charitable work done by the church, as part of a Pecha Kucha talk — a Japanese format where 20 images are discussed for 20 seconds each.
During the talk, Ms Penny said that almost a third of food globally goes to waste, which results in extra methane being produced at landfills.
She said: “Because of the high levels of food poverty in Dundee, we thought it was really important how we frame our project to make sure nobody would feel bad to take the food.
“Nobody should feel judged for taking free food, or free anything, when there is such an excess of stuff in the world.
“Community ownership and empowerment has led to self policing, which is really important because Dundonians have long been known for their strong sense of social justice.”
The average community fridge redistributes about one tonne of food per month, Ms Penny added, but the Dundee fridge handed out just under eight tonnes in its first three months with close to 1,000 people using it in that time.
Recently, the 12 tonne milestone was reached.
With the festive season approaching, Ms Penny said the only days the fridge will be closed will be Christmas Day, Boxing Day as well as January 1 and 2 although it may operate reduced hours.