The Mayor of Ivybridge, Councillor Phillip Dredge, has chosen Ivybridge Community Food (ICF) as his Charity of the Year, supporting a growing local initiative helping people access affordable food while reducing food waste across the community.

Based at St John’s Church, ICF works to ensure good-quality surplus food is put to use rather than going to waste, making it available to local people through its community food initiatives.

Central to this work is a dedicated team of volunteers and a strong network of partners.

St John’s Church has hosted and provided significant support to ICF since it began, enabling ICF to run an affordable community food club and community fridge, the church café provides another valuable way of using surplus food and bringing people together.

Ivybridge Community Food also work closely with The Dove Project, FareShare South West, Ivybridge Town Council, Asda and Community Action Groups Devon, alongside an extensive network of local businesses and food partners.

These partnerships are vital in sourcing and redistributing food, securing support and enabling ICF to respond to the needs of the local community.

Mayor of Ivybridge, Councillor Phillip Dredge, said: “I am delighted to choose Ivybridge Community Food as my Charity of the Year.

“The project takes food that might otherwise go to waste and uses it to make a real difference locally, helping people access affordable food at a time when household budgets remain under pressure.

“What ICF has achieved through its volunteers and partnerships is fantastic, and I hope that by supporting them over the coming year we can raise awareness of their work, generate much-needed funds and help them continue to reach more people across Ivybridge.”

Previous fundraising and successful grant applications have already helped ICF expand its work.

Funding for a dedicated storage shed – also hosted by St John’s Church – has increased its capacity, allowing more food to be stored and redistributed and enabling the organisation to support more local families.

With demand continuing to grow, ICF’s next ambition is to employ a part-time coordinator to help manage the service, support its volunteers and provide the additional capacity needed to develop the project sustainably.

Throughout his mayoral year, Councillor Dredge will help raise funds and awareness for ICF, with opportunities for residents, businesses and community groups to get involved.

By volunteering, fundraising, donating or supporting ICF’s work, the Ivybridge community can help ensure more good food reaches local people who can benefit from it, rather than going to waste.

Ivybridge Community Food (ICF) is an affordable food club, an initiative set up by Feeding Devon in November 2023. ICF has since evolved to become a locally run association to meet the needs of the community in Ivybridge, South Hams, Devon.

Since November 2023, operating from St John’s church hall and working in close cooperation with the St John’s community cafe, ICF has supported more than 200 households with more than 1,000 food bags. The Ivybridge community fridge and pantry has been operational since April 2024 and is also hosted at St John’s church.