New Initiative in Scarborough Aims to Tackle Food Waste and Insecurity

A new initiative called Surplus Saviours has been launched in Scarborough, inviting local residents and charity groups to participate in collecting and redistributing surplus food from participating retailers.

This programme, spearheaded by Neighbourly, a platform connecting businesses with local good causes, seeks to create an additional avenue for edible, unsold food to reach the community.

Neighbourly, a tech business based in Bristol but operating nationally, works with major retailers including Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer, Lidl, and Aldi to facilitate surplus food distribution. The organisation has already helped redistribute over 260 million meals into communities across the UK and Ireland through its existing programmes. 

The Surplus Saviours scheme is an expansion of this effort, specifically designed to address occasions when traditional charity partners may not be available to collect food from stores.

William Troutton, Senior Client Impact Director and Head of Surplus Food at Neighbourly, explained that while charities collect daily, there are times when collections can't be facilitated due to reasons like volunteers being unavailable. 

"We know that across all of the retailers across the UK and Ireland. There are occasions where there aren't good causes that are available to collect on a regular basis every single day.

It could be 'cause they don't have the volunteers available. It might be 'cause they're away, what the Surplus Saviors program enables is individuals to collect unsold food from participating supermarkets and stores mainly in the evenings.

Either as part of a community group. So they can share those items with service users. But they potentially could also share that with friends and family. So it's another layer of opportunity for redistributing surplus food in local communities."

The surplus food collected can include fresh produce, bakery items, chilled goods, and other products that are perfectly safe to eat but are nearing their expiry date. Mr Troutton added that the scheme is particularly helpful for redistributing items with use-by dates, such as chilled meat and fish, which are high in retail and nutritional value but can be challenging to redistribute due to date coding.

Surplus Saviours can choose to use the collected food at home or are encouraged to share it with community members who would benefit. 

Jane, a Surplus Saviour, shared her experience, saying, 

"Collecting surplus food is incredibly rewarding. Not only am I helping reduce food waste, but I'm also connecting with my community and ensuring good food reaches people who can benefit from it. It only takes a small amount of my time each week, but the donations do make a big difference."

The initiative directly addresses the dual issues of significant food waste and household food insecurity in the UK. An estimated 4.7 million tonnes of edible food is discarded annually in the UK, while many households struggle to afford food. 

Steve Butterworth, CEO of Neighbourly said:

"Through our Surplus Saviours initiative, we're creating an additional route for good quality food surplus to reach communities. By engaging individuals alongside our charity network, we can ensure more food reaches people's plates."

Neighbourly is currently seeking Scarborough residents to take part in a live trial of the Surplus Saviours programme. Those interested should be able to commit to regular evening collection times, typically between 9:30 p.m. and 10:00 p.m., and have transport. People can express their interest by emailing food@neighbourly.com or by finding the Neighbourly Surplus Saviours hub online at https://hub.neighbourly.com/surplus-saviours

Once registered, participants receive a notification, usually via text or email, when a store has surplus food available for collection on a given evening. The notification indicates there is "at least a basket worth of items to offer". If a collector is unable to attend on a particular night, they can decline, and the offer will be passed to the next person on the list.

The trial in Scarborough is initially running for four weeks and is currently underway. 

Neighbourly is keen for people in the area to get involved, noting that successful applicants can be brought into the programme quickly. If the trial proves successful in Scarborough, the hope is that it will become a permanent fixture and potentially expand to cover the wider region and even nationally with the participating retailer. The ultimate goal, according to Mr Troutton, is to help people across the country access "really nutritious, valuable food free of charge".