Moulsecoomb's community fridge turns one and wants volunteers

The community fridge at Brighton Table Tennis Club on Moulsecoomb Way turns one this month, and the group that runs it is looking for volunteers.

Very Local Food Hubs^2,4, a not-for-profit food project for Moulsecoomb, Bevendean and Bates Estate, opened the fridge in November 2025 with funding from Hubbub. It fills the fridge with whatever is left after packing its veg boxes, which can come from farms such as Laines Organic Farm in Cuckfield, Rock Farm in Steyning and Highbarn Community Farm in Brighton. The group doesn’t like calling that produce surplus, and never calls it waste. As it puts it on its website, “it’s not the food that’s bad, it’s the system!”

Volunteers offer members a tea, coffee or water, help the community manager keep the space tidy and talk to people about their shop. The first session is an induction, and the role comes with free online food safety and hygiene training. Volunteers also take home a shop from the fridge. To sign up, email Maddy at vlfhcommunityfridge@gmail.com. The role is advertised until 5 January.

Anyone living in Moulsecoomb, Bevendean, Bates Estate or Coldean, or using the table tennis club, can join as a member or take food as a one-off for a donation. The group asks members who can afford it for £5 or £10 a month, which also gets them onto its trips, events and workshops. The fridge opens on Fridays and Saturdays from 12.30pm to 2.30pm.