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'We've saved 34 tonnes of food and a carpet'

Alex PopeNorthamptonshire
News imageTowcester Community Larder Two women, both holding their thumbs up, holding a carpet roll, both wearing shorts, and a purple T-shirt. The one on the left has on a high-vis jacket. A silver van is behind them and some wooden pallets. Towcester Community Larder
Katie Steele (right) said it was "amazing" what all the volunteers achieved

Volunteers have clocked up more than 1,000 hours of service to save 34 tonnes of uneaten food from the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, going into the bin.

Since Sunday, about 50 helpers from Roade and Towcester's Community Larders have driven back and forth from the Northamptonshire racetrack to offer up items like eggs, milk, fruit, vegetables, and even a carpet, at pop-up shops.

Katie Steele, from the Towcester group, said it had seen "record attendances" and believed the groups had helped about 3,000 people.

She said the collections ended on Friday and were only made possible by "absolutely amazing teamwork".

News imageTowcester Community Larder A large group of people at a community food larder, with gazebos on the left, vans to the right, and boxes of food at the front. Helpers are wearing purple T-shirts. There are trees in the distance. Towcester Community Larder
Katie Steele said hundreds of people attended its pop-up shops

Steele said on Monday volunteers had processed 12 tonnes of food waste, and the number kept on growing.

Teams back at base weighed and sorted each collection before holding a number of pop-up food shops throughout the week.

She added: "We had record attendances. By Wednesday we were at 18 tonnes, we were giving out things like fruit, eggs, bread, bacon, butter, really great food.

"On Monday 450 people turned up to our first pop-up sale, when normally it would be about 350."

News imageTowcester Community Larder Two women are behind a table with a large collection of egg boxes on it. The woman on the right is sitting down. The woman on the left is standing up and wearing a purple T-shirt. A chair is to the left of the table and a cardboard box with white eggs in it, to the right. There are trees in the background. Towcester Community Larder
You can make a lot of omelettes with those eggs

The community larders normally offer a membership scheme, where surplus food can be bought at discount prices, but for the food from Silverstone it had been "open to all".

On Monday night volunteers had worked until midnight to make sure everyone who was at the pop-up shop could get served.

Steele said the team was "literally on their knees" and had to put their feet in ice blocks just to cool off.

She added: "When there is so much food, it's really important to open it up to the wider network, else we'd end up with a lot of waste.

"We've tried to reach as many people as possible.

"It's been a really random but great year. We've had disposable plates, cling film, toilet rolls and we even rescued a carpet and donated it to a family who hadn't any carpets upstairs.

News imageTowcester Community Larder A large group of volunteers, all wearing purple T-shirts with six kneeling at the front and the rest standing behind them. They are standing next to a white van and there is a brick building behind them. A shopping trolley is to the right. Towcester Community Larder
About 50 volunteers worked through the week to collect, sort and arrange the goods from Silverstone

She clarified that the unused goods from the Formula 1 event can't be taken with them, so get left behind.

She added: "It just feels like it has such a positive impact.

"We have an absolutely amazing team, working during a heatwave.

"They never complained about how many hours they gave."

News imageTowcester Community Larder A large selection of boxes of fresh food, all piled up, next to three people who are wearing purple T-shirts with the words Larder Volunteer Food Hero in white writing on the back. There is a white trailer unit to the left. Towcester Community Larder
Food that was set to go to waste was fruit, vegetables, and salad items

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