FLITWICK COMMUNITY FRIDGE
Welcome to the Flitwick Community Fridge - a local initiative that helps reduce food waste and supports our community.
Open to everyone, the Community Fridge is a space where surplus food is shared freely, whether it's from local businesses, supermarkets, or households. By taking what you need or donating what you can, you're helping to cut food waste and make a positive impact in Flitwick. It's a simple idea with big benefits for the environment and our neighbours.
Originally established by Flitwick Town Council (FTC) in January 2023, the Flitwick Community Fridge has grown rapidly to meet local needs, handling 44,000kg of food in 2024. The service is coordinated and delivered by FTC with lots of support from our team of amazing volunteers who give up their time to collect food for redistribution for the benefit of the community.
What is a Community Fridge?
A community fridge is a space that brings people and businesses together to share food, meet up, learn new skills and prevent fresh food from going to waste. Flitwick Community Fridge is open to all; anyone can share or take food, including surplus from supermarkets, local food businesses, producers, households and gardens.
Community fridges are a tried and tested solution to stop good food from going to waste, helping to address two big problems:
- Reducing food waste: The average household throws away £810 worth of food each year. Most food waste in the UK (4.1 million tonnes) is avoidable and could have been eaten had it been better managed.
- Supporting people impacted by food poverty: A 2023 report by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) shows that 350,000 more children were pulled into relative poverty in 2021-2022, up from 3.6 million in 2010-11. 71% of poor children live in working families, and 45% of all children in poverty are in families with the youngest child aged under five.
In the context of rocketing food prices and widespread loneliness, many community fridges have become a lifeline and valuable meeting place at the heart of their community. As well as stopping good food from going to waste, people can also take part in other activities, learn new skills such as how to grow or cook food or drop in for a chat. Follow the Flitwick Community Fridge Facebook page for information about our activities and stock updates.
You can donate to the Flitwick Town Mayor's Charity Community Fund to support the Community Fridge and to fund other projects that will benefit the residents of Flitwick.
MEMBERSHIP AND HOW TO JOIN
Since opening in January 2023, Flitwick Community Fridge has grown quickly to meet the needs of local people. We're now one of the biggest community fridges in the country, and while we remain committed to keeping the core service open to everyone and free of charge, we have opted to transition to a free membership-only model from the 1st September 2025.
We offer two tiers of membership: Standard and Supported.
LOCATION AND OPENING TIMES
You’ll find the fridge in our dedicated Food Hub located at the side of The Rufus Centre, Steppingley Road, Flitwick, MK45 1AH. There is ample free parking if you are visiting by car.
| Food hub opening times | ||
|---|---|---|
Monday | 09:30-11:30 | 14:30-16:30 |
Tuesday | 09:30-11:30 | 14:30-16:30 |
Wednesday (Supported Tier Only) | 09:30-11:30 | |
Thursday | 09:30-11:30 | 14:30-16:30 |
Friday | 09:30-11:30 | 14:30-16:30 |
Saturday | 09:30-11:30 | CLOSED |
Use by sessions
We also open for use by sessions on Fridays, 21:15-21:45, and Sundays, 16:30-17:00, to share the food we have collected from Tesco Flitwick and Waitrose Ampthill, which must be used on the same day.
We don’t know what food and how much we will have until the day. You can take up to five items on a first-come, first-served basis. The Food Hub is not open at this time.
Based on your feedback, we stick to the published opening times and do not open early. Anyone needing immediate help should visit the main reception at The Rufus Centre outside of these times.
Toddington Community Fridge
We support Mid Bedfordshire Community Fridge CIC in running a weekly food stall at Wilkinson Hall in Toddington, Bedfordshire. This service is independent of Flitwick Town Council and is open on Saturday mornings from 09:30 to 11:00. The food stall in Toddington offers a selection of fresh fruit, vegetables, bread, and cakes (excluding chilled items). You can find more info here.
WHAT'S ON OFFER?
Our staff and volunteers follow a rigorous food hygiene system, including stock rotation and cleaning. It’s your responsibility to check that the food is still fresh and within its use-by date. Some food in the food hub may be past its best-before date, but will still be perfectly fine to eat. Please read the disclaimer displayed.
Upon arrival, please select up to 3kg of food using the provided basket. Someone from our team will weigh your food and log your visit to allow us to track the needs and preferences of our service users.
Please be considerate and only take what you need. Our fridge is a shared community resource and is open daily, you are welcome to return another day. Collections are limited to a maximum limit of 3 kilograms of food per household per day.
Our two-tier membership is summarised below; see our membership page for detailed information about the offer.
Standard Tier - open to everyone
Our Standard Membership is open to everyone living in Mid Bedfordshire. You'll usually find a selection of fresh fruit and vegetables, bread and limited dairy products; what’s available depends on what’s been donated. We sometimes have chilled frozen food to share in return for a donation.
Please note: there is a minimum suggested donation of £1 per visit.
Supported Tier - open to households on a low income or needing additional help
The 'Cost of Living Crisis' continues to impact everyone in our community, but it’s not affecting everyone equally. Our Supported Membership is open to households in the Mid Bedfordshire constituency who are on a low income and/or struggling to eat well because of the cost-of-living crisis.
What do I do if I need urgent support?
We can offer immediate assistance and support for Mid Bedfordshire residents if anyone finds themselves in crisis. Please visit the Food Hub during core opening hours or visit the main reception at The Rufus Centre. We will ask you a few questions to understand your circumstances and will offer appropriate support, which may include an emergency food parcel and a referral to a food bank.
OUR SERVICE RULES
Our fridge is a shared community resource, and we have a set of simple rules to ensure fair access to food:
- Collections are limited to a maximum of 3 kilograms of food per visit. This is a limit, not a target. Please only take what you need.
- Each household is allowed to visit once per day (excluding use by sessions).
- You may only visit Flitwick OR Toddington Community Fridge on a Saturday, not both.
- Our food is intended for human consumption; please do not take food to feed your pets. Anyone struggling to feed their pets should contact the Maulden Pet Food Bank for assistance.
- We ask visitors not to arrive at any service more than 15 minutes before the publicised opening time.
Please see our terms and conditions for further details; breaking these rules may result in termination or suspension of your membership.
FOOD DONATIONS
Most of the food in our fridge is generously donated by local businesses, including Tesco Flitwick, Aldi Flitwick, Waitrose Ampthill, and Co-op Flitwick.
We welcome donations to the community fridge from local businesses and residents, including surplus produce from gardens and allotments, but we have strict rules to follow. Ask yourself:
- Is it at risk of being wasted?
- Is it fresh and within its use-by date?
- Is it good to eat for at least 24 more hours?
- Can we accept it? Check the exclusion list below.
- Is the packaging unbroken?
- Does the packaging have a list of ingredients and allergens? Community fridges can only share food they know the contents of according to Natasha’s Law.
If you want to donate, ask a member of the team to accept and weigh in your unwanted food.
We cannot accept:
- Alcohol
- Cooked food from your home or unregistered sources
- Chilled foods (because we cannot guarantee they have been kept to temperature)
- Cooked rice
- Meat, including pâtés, ham, sausage rolls etc
- Beansprouts
- Loose bakery products with no labelling of allergens
- Products that could contain any of the above ingredients
VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
- Tesco Flitwick on weeknights between 20:30 and 21:30.
- KFC Toddington North at 10:00 on Monday and Friday
- The Cottage Bakery Ampthill at 14:00 on Saturday
We are not currently recruiting volunteers to work in the Food Hub during the day.
Volunteers sign up for shifts using an online rota, so everyone has complete control over their work schedule. Volunteers must have a full driving license to drive our van. They must also be able to physically lift and carry trays of food, which can weigh between 5kg and 15kg. All volunteers must have a Level 1 Food Hygiene certificate (training provided).
In return for your time and effort, we can offer you the opportunity to give something back to our community. You'll join a fabulous team of over 40 local people passionate about reducing food waste and supporting our community.
Please email to register your interest in volunteering to support the Flitwick Community Fridge, message our Facebook page, or give us a call on 01525 631900.
BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS
We are grateful to many local businesses that make regular donations of surplus food and provide financial support to our project:
Tesco Flitwick is our primary charity partner, donating food daily and supporting many of our initiatives.
We also receive generous support from the following businesses and charities:
ANSWERS TO COMMON QUESTIONS
GALLERY
