'We have really seen food charities blossom'
Jules HopkinsFoodbanks and community fridges have "blossomed" since the pandemic, a charity worker says.
Jules Hopkins, who is the co-ordinator at Knaphill Community Fridge in Surrey, said: "There's so many community fridges across the country now all trying to enable food to be redirected back into the community and I think it's something that we've really seen blossom."
The charity, run by the Woodhill Church, has 50-60 volunteers and allows people to make use of surplus food from supermarkets for free.
"It's just trying to keep food out of landfills and keep it from being thrown away," Hopkins told BBC Radio Surrey.
The charity started in 2019 in a shed with an honesty box for optional donations.
"It just grew and then the pandemic threw everything into very sharp focus for us," Hopkins explained.
"We were able to help many, many people shielding and it grew from their word of mouth."
The charity predicted it had stopped more than 162 tonnes of food from going into landfill.
"I've learned about humanity, human kind, how people are really willing to help each other [and] how people find it hard to ask for help," Hopkins said.
"We've found that loneliness is really rife in our community."
Hopkins said the charity had started offering tea and coffee to users to encourage people to meet each other.
