Harrogate and Knaresborough to get community grocery shops

Resurrected Bites is set to reopen its cafes for the first time in more than a year and launch what it calls community grocery shops.

The volunteer group, which specialises in turning food destined for the bin into nutritious meals, has delivered food to more than 15,000 people during coronavirus.

Michelle Hayes, the founder of Resurrected Bites, is proud of what her team has achieved but she feels that now is the right time to re-open its cafes.

While the group is well-known for turning food into meals, it is now preparing to launch its own shops at Harrogate’s New Park Primary Academy and at a yet-to-be-finalised location in central Knaresborough.

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The shops are intended to help anyone struggling to buy food. For between £3 and £5, people who sign up as members of the shop will be able to pick up a large amount of fresh and frozen food.

If the shops, which will be opening around September to October, go well then Ms Hayes has plans to open a third in the Fairfax area of Harrogate. She told the Stray Ferret:

“Community groceries are different from food banks because people pay a small amount rather than relying on vouchers.

“Anyone who needs it can pay a small amount for quite a lot of food. That small costs also gives people dignity.”

To get the projects off the ground, the group has started a fundraising campaign with a target of £2,000. Click or tap here to donate.

Resurrected Bites’ cafes are expected to return in the second week of September.

The cafe at Gracious Street in Knaresborough will be open on Tuesday and Friday from 10am to 2pm. The group has also moved the Wednesday cafe in Harrogate from St Mark’s Church to West Park United Reformed Church.

Harrogate district businesses urged to give leftover food to needy

Shops and restaurants in the Harrogate district that will close this week due to lockdown are being urged to donate their leftover food to needy people.

Resurrected Bites, a not-for-profit group that aims to fill bellies not bins, provided weekly food parcels for 1,350 people in October.

It now hopes to generate enough donations to help vulnerable people during the second lockdown, which starts on Thursday.

Knaresborough businesses Mother Shipton’s Cave and Scarlett’s Vintage Tea Rooms have already donated food.

Michelle Hayes, director of Resurrected Bites, told the Stray Ferret:

“The vulnerable people we have helped already have called us a life-saver. Businesses will be sad that they have to close but they are happy to help.

“At the moment we have around 180 people on our system that we help. Many were worried about the end of furlough so are happy that it will continue for a month.”

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When the March lockdown started, Resurrected Bites closed its cafes at St Mark’s Church in Harrogate and Gracious Street Methodist Church in Knaresborough and instead delivered food to those in need.

While it is still delivering food to those in need, its cafes will remain closed. The charity expects its cafes will remain closed until Easter next year.

Businesses wanting to help can email Ms Hayes by clicking or tapping here.

Charity calls on community to help spread Christmas cheer

A community project which has provided thousands of meals to vulnerable families this year is hoping to spread extra cheer at Christmas.

Resurrected Bites has received almost 3,000 calls for help since lockdown began in March, delivering three days’ worth of food, toiletries and cleaning products to the equivalent of 4,528 adults and 2,807 children – though many of these are returning customers.

Yet this was never what the community interest company was set up to be. It was a pay-as-you-feel cafe, using food intercepted from restaurants, supermarkets and suppliers before it was sent to landfill, offering hot and cold meals at three churches in Harrogate and Knaresborough.

However, director Michelle Hayes said when lockdown began and the cafes had to close, she immediately knew what she would do.

“Within two days I had switched over. I decided to close the cafes on the Monday and by Wednesday we had started the food distribution.

“I knew there would be lots of people needing food and people were panic-buying. I knew a lot of businesses would have to close really quickly and there would be a lot of food going to waste. Supermarkets were struggling with their ordering systems.

“We were able to get a lot of food and start delivering straight away.”

Although other organisations, such as the foodbank, were already set up to support families in need, Michelle knew there was still a gap for additional help. Where the foodbank supplies mostly tinned and dried food, Resurrected Bites uses perishable items such as fruit and vegetables, eggs, and bread.

Volunteers at Resurrected Bites sort through donated food

Volunteers Sally and Richard sort through donations to make parcels of food for local families

It can also provide cooked meals thanks to a team of volunteers who turn some of the ingredients into complete dishes. Though Resurrected Bites never distributes food which is out of date or of poor quality, using it to make meals can extend its usable life.

After lockdown began, requests for help began to escalate quickly, largely through referrals from other organisations but in some cases direct from struggling families. With several months of activity now behind them, Michelle and her team have settled into a rhythm of deliveries each week.

Michelle knows demand is likely to rise again if more lockdown measures are put in place.

“We’ve got really busy again this week. I wanted to be running at capacity of 30 orders a day – but when you realise how much food that involves, it’s quite overwhelming. By Friday, you’re just hoping there’s enough food available for everyone who needs it.

“I’m expecting that demand is going to go up as more people get laid off. People who are waiting for Universal Credit to start, people who have been self-employed and their business has closed. Quite a few families whose kids have been sent home from school and families have to self-isolate, but can’t get a supermarket deliver for a few days.”

If she needs to increase capacity, the only option for Michelle is to source more food and other supplies. She could request more from charity supplier Fareshare, but demand is likely to increase everywhere and more deliveries may not be available.

The only other option would be to buy more in, which they have been doing as necessary – but that needs more money to be coming in as well. It already costs more than £4,000 each month to meet the existing demands for food and toiletries.

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Now, with Christmas looming, Michelle is keen to make it special for the families supported by Resurrected Bites and is calling on the community to help.

She’s asked each family to say what their children are interested in so supporters can buy something from the list, and can donate wrapping paper and sticky tape too. She added:

“Hopefully we’ll try and get the right kind of present to the right child so there’s something for everybody.”

Donations of food and toiletries can be made at drop-off points around Harrogate and Knaresborough. Financial donations are also welcome to help fund any extra supplies. Details of both, along with order forms for people needing support, can be found on the Resurrected Bites website.