Team REfUSE are VERY excited to announce that we will be starting Fuel for School, Durham very soon! We recently heard the good news that we have received a Big Lottery Fund Awards For All grant which means that we can begin delivering food to 4 primary schools in Ferryhill every week. This is rescued food, still perfectly good to eat but would otherwise have been wasted, chucked away and not eaten.

The aim of Fuel for School is:

• To remove hunger as a barrier to learning and to improve educational outcomes for the children of the school.
• To enable schools to provide school children and their families with access to food on a Pay As You Feel (PAYF) basis.
• To educate children about food waste and all related issues.

The schools will be able to use the food we deliver to create a market stall where Pupils will be able to help run the stall as a way to learn about food, money and the environment. Parents, carers, pupils and staff will have a chance every week to pick up some fresh food at this stall. Schools may also use this food to help start, or to supplement, breakfast clubs or other similar activities. Just by using this food the school will be preventing the same amount of environmental damage as a car driving around the globe twice every year!

We will be helping pupils and families learn about waste and the environment, understand food and fairness through their school. In schools that the Real Junk Food Project partners with already, many parents have tried foods they would never normally have bought, and have grown in confidence in cooking and being creative with food. It has also boosted confidence, literacy and numeracy skills in pupils who have got involved with running the stall.

We’re excited to begin this project in the North East… watch this space, these children are going be the food warriors of tomorrow! #letsreallyfeedtheworld

You can find out more about Fuel For School here