Shepton food-saving volunteers launch £2,500 Christmas appeal

By Laura Linham 19th Oct 2026

Local News by Laura Linham 1 hour ago

Volunteers who rescued 10 tonnes of food during Christmas week last year are asking Shepton Mallet residents to help them through this year's festive season.

Shepton Mallet Waste Action Group and Community Fridge have launched a £2,500 appeal after encountering a gap in their fundraising. They hope to reach the target by Friday, 13 November, ahead of their busiest period.

The group redistributes surplus food and also supplies non-food items through its retail premises. Organisers say the money will help them continue providing those services over the coming months.

In an appeal launched on 13 October, the group said: "We are fast approaching our busiest time of year (Christmas!). Last year we rescued 10 tonnes in Christmas week alone. We now have our retail premises also where we would like to be able to continue to distribute non food items to the community over the next few months and beyond."

The scale of the volunteers' work was highlighted in a report prepared for Shepton Mallet Town Council this month. It said the organisation saves more than 50 tonnes of food from waste annually and redistributes more than a tonne of household goods, electrical items, books, clothing and toys each month.

Around 30 active volunteers support the service, with trustees and volunteers contributing approximately 60 hours each week, alongside additional collection and distribution time. The report said the community fridge and pop-up days attract approximately 200 people per day.

The service is open to the wider community, helping usable food and goods find new homes while supporting households facing financial pressures. The Christmas appeal seeks donations to bridge the funding gap as demand approaches its seasonal peak.

Download our Nub News App!

- It’s FREE and available now
- Breaking news notifications
- Your Town in Your Pocket

Join the 1% Less than one percent of our regular readers pay to support our work.

We send messages like this because, honestly, we need to.
We believe the kind of journalism we produce is important.
That’s why we rely on readers like you.

Please consider joining that 1% today.

Join the 1% Less than one percent of our regular readers pay to support our work.

We send messages like this because, honestly, we need to.
We believe the kind of journalism we produce is important.
That’s why we rely on readers like you.

Please consider joining that 1% today.