It has been a very busy few weeks at Marcham Community Fridge.

We started out as a branch of Abingdon Community Fridge, redirecting a small number of surplus food collections to the Marcham community. The response has been fantastic. People from across Marcham have joined us in rescuing good food from going to waste, discovering ingredients they might not normally buy and, at the same time, saving a little money.

Now we are taking that success to the next level.

Last week, Marcham Community Fridge officially became a Community Interest Company (CIC). This is an important step for us and opens up new opportunities for funding, partnerships and support that were not previously available.

One of the first things we did was ask the community to complete a survey. We wanted to understand what people would like to see from Marcham Community Fridge, both in the short term and further into the future. The results will also give us useful evidence and statistics when applying for grants to help fund the equipment, people and other resources needed to bring more surplus food into Marcham.

Our new website is currently under construction, but it is already open for visitors while we continue developing it. It includes live fundraising information and some of the results from our community survey. You can also search nearly 1,000 recipes for ideas on how to make the most of the food you collect from us.

We are currently waiting for approval to open a bank account in the CIC’s name. Once this is in place, we will be able to start accepting donations from the community.

We will also be publishing information about Community Funding Proposals on our website, so people can see what we hope to fund and how different projects could support the fridge.

Alongside community donations, we will be exploring grant funding from organisations such as Marcham Parish Council, The National Lottery and other suitable funders.

At this stage, our funding plans are still preliminary. What we apply for, and what we prioritise, will be guided by the results of the community survey, feedback from local people and the practical needs of Marcham Community Fridge as we grow.

There is plenty more to come, and we will use this blog to share our progress, new projects, funding updates and the impact the community is helping us make.

Waste Less, Share More.