18 January 2024
Last year Cheltenham residents recycled 51% of all waste produced in the borough. As the council’s recycling partner, we originally pledged to donate approximately 5,100 items of food to Cheltenham’s food bank during this financial year to match Cheltenham’s recycling rate. But we have decided to do better than this! Just before Christmas, we sought the help of residents to get to a recycling rate of 52% – meaning we will donate an extra 100 items to foodbanks in Cheltenham. Essentially the more waste residents recycle, the more food items we will donate to support those most in need.
You can read more about our joint initiative in this article:
To achieve this, residents can help by recycling more of their aluminium cans, food tins, glass bottles and jars, plastic bottles, tubs and trays, as well as cardboard in their recycling boxes.
Cllr Iain Dobie, cabinet member for waste, recycling and street services, said: “I’m really pleased with the donations so far and I’d love to see more. It’s simple – the more we recycle the more food donations go to our Cheltenham foodbanks. Anything we can do to reduce food and general waste and increase our recycling rate is important in supporting our climate change ambitions as well as supporting those most in need in our community. I would like to thank residents for their recycling efforts and ask them to keep going as I think we can do even better.’’
A big thank you to Cllr Iain Dobie, for his dedication and support towards this initiative. Iain said, “I am delighted we are working with Plan B Management Solutions as well as helping to support Cheltenham’s foodbank.”
Maz Akhtar, our MD, said: “We are pleased to be working with Cheltenham Borough Council and continuing our ongoing commitment to support the local communities within the areas we operate.”
We’re happy to report that we’ve nearly reached our target and have received some lovely updates recently from foodbanks in Cheltenham.
From Cheltenham Trussel Trust Food Bank:
“On behalf of all at Cheltenham Food Bank please accept this email as a very grateful thanks for the click and collect donation we collected from Tesco yesterday.
As a charity we rely on the support of local people and organisations to continue the work we do here. The number of households having to use our services at the food bank is growing rapidly, as many local people are feeling the impact of the rise in energy bills and the cost of living crisis.
Your support and generosity will help us to continue to provide food and toiletries to local people in crisis and for this we cannot thank you enough. “
From Fresh Hope Pantry:
We received a wonderful message from Fresh Hope Pantry in Cheltenham recently that has put a big smile on all our faces:
“Thank you so much – the generosity of your company will make a huge difference to our Pantry and we are very grateful.”
And from Cheltenham Open Door Food bank, after receiving our latest delivery:
“What a fantastic delivery yesterday from your company via Tesco’s! Thank you so very much. This is such a brilliant donation and it really brought a smile to our faces.”
For more information about Cheltenham Foodbank, how to get involved or how to get help, please visit cheltenham.foodbank.org.uk.
Looking ahead, we have pledged to increase our support for food banks by an additional 50% in 2024. Watch this space for further updates on our progress! Together we can create a sustainable and supportive community, making a substantial difference in the lives of those who need it most.