A £3000 FlightPath Fund award has helped establish a community food larder in Lochwinnoch.
Now up and running, the Lochwinnoch Community Larder is currently working with over 165 families per week.
Based in Lochhead Gardens and operated by volunteers from LEAP Together, the community larder redistributes surplus foods from local supermarkets that would have been destined for landfill, which reduces unnecessary food waste, production and the logistics of disposal involved.
The FlightPath Fund award was also used to help purchase a community fridge and a seed library to support LEAP Together’s Diggin’ It project – an initiative helping user of the larder to grow their own vegetables sustainably at home.
Tori Bell, project officer, at LEAP Together, said:“We’re really grateful to the FlightPath Fund for their prompt response to our request, and for the award, which will really help our project at this critical stage of development.
“We’re tackling climate change by redistributing surplus food otherwise destined for landfill. It’s an important project which is building resilience in our small community and this money is really making an impact towards this aim.”
The FlightPath Fund returned in September last year by offering £70,000 to help to support community groups, charities and sustainability-themed projects local to Glasgow Airport.
At total of almost £45,000 has been awarded so far and the remaining amount has been carried forward and will be added to this year’s FlightPath Fund award pot of £66,500.
The Fund’s committee is continuing to urge neighbouring groups and organisations to submit applications and is keen to support sustainability-themed projects aimed at improving the environment in the communities local to the airport.
Kirsty Webster, Glasgow Airport’s sustainability manager, said: “The Lochwinnoch Community Larder is a fantastic project, and the volunteers deserve huge credit for ensuring that perfectly good food is distributed within the local communities rather than ending up in landfill final.
Food waste is a huge issue for us all and one of the biggest carbon emitters worldwide. With more than a third of all produce going to waste, it’s projects such as the community larder that will help ensure we can reduce food waste and put it to good use.”
The FlightPath Fund’s committee, which includes elected representatives from each of the four local authority areas, meets on regularly throughout the year to consider all applications made and to allocate any agreed financial support.
To find out more about applying for funding support, visit: www.glasgowairport.com/community and download the application form and our funding guidelines.
To find out more about the Lochwinnoch Community Larder and the wider work of LEAP Together visit: www.myleapproject.org