A pair of Lanarkshire women have started a new project to reduce food waste.
Jan Ritchie and Jane Bainbridge have teamed up with Cambuslang Parish Church to give away food near its expiration date from several supermarkets and other food outlets.
Jane has conducted the Meet and 2 Veg programme from her home since Christmas.
After Meet and 2 Veg became popular, she contacted Jan, one of the church elders, about the possibility of using the church as a venue for people to come and collect food.
The new initiative has now been running successfully for three weeks.
Jane told Lanarkshire Live: “The project is still new and we’re easing into it and building up to spreading the word. It’s a foodshare through Fareshare and the Greggs Foundation. It’s free food, no referrals, and we’re not a foodbank.
“Jan has been the backbone of getting us set up in Cambuslang Parish Church. I want to thank her for her massive efforts in the last few months.”
Food drop-ins are held on Mondays and Wednesdays between 9.15pm and 10pm.
The two women are now hoping more people will become involved.
Jan Ritchie said: “We’re working in partnership with Jane, she’s organising the pick-ups and trying to get volunteers. She was the the inspiration behind it.
“We’re doing this because it stops food going to waste. We’re not a charity. It’s a disgrace the amount of food that ends up in landfill.
“Anyone can come along. Last night we had loads of strawberries and so many doughnuts and pastries from Greggs. We had four of the smaller Tesco stores giving us a lot of stuff as well.
“We really want to reach out to more people and get as many people as we can involved. People can come along with a bag and take some items, it's completely free, but we do have a donation box.
“We’re looking for volunteers as well. If people are interested they can get in touch with us. We need people to drive to and from the shops to pick up the food.
“We've been running for around three weeks now, and we’ve had about 80 uplifts and it’s brilliant, it's great for the environment.”
Jane added: “We’d like to say a big thank you to Greggs Foundation and Fareshare for providing us with the food.”
More information on Meet and 2 Veg can be found via their Facebook page.
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