Community Food Hubs Fund

Four middle-aged women stand around a table, laughing. They are all wearing green aprons and one of the women is holding a lemon peel.
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Community Food Hubs Fund

Supporting local food initiatives

Since 2021, community fridges have been transforming into vibrant spaces for sharing, learning, and connection.

Thanks to the Community Food Hub grant fund, hundreds of projects have taken root — cooking workshops, community dinners, gardens, sharing libraries, and much, much more.

This grant fund is open to applications.

It’s the community's space and we are mere facilitators. It's become a local place for climate action, everyday people making a little bit of a difference together.

- Zero Waste Community Fridge

Key info

  1. Who can apply?

    Community fridges that are part of the Community Fridge Network run by Hubbub, and did not receive funding in the May 2025 Community Food Hubs funding round are eligible to apply.

  2. Funding

    55 grants of £3,000 will be distributed to successful fridges.

  3. Aims

    The fund supports either a new activity to enrich your community fridge or an existing and successful food hub activity you’d like to continue, grow or expand.

  4. Timings

    This fund is open to applications between 1st September - 1st October.

What is the funding for?

The fund supports activities that fall under one (or more) of the following themes:

  • Cooking demos showcasing fruit and veg often left behind at the fridge
  • Energy-efficient workshops for families
  • Healthy, veg-focused cooking classes for young people
  • Smaller groups of cooking skills for young people with SEND
  • Weekly community dinners prepared by volunteers
  • Community meals and recipe shares from different cultures in the community
  • Community cafes with repurposed food from the community fridge
  • Transforming the space in and around community fridges into community gardens
  • Gardening clubs w/ volunteers sharing their skills
  • Boosting local food growing: planters, windowsill, herb walls, alley way boxes
  • Clothes renting and sharing schemes especially baby clothes
  • Tool shed built by volunteers and free and open to anyone to borrow
  • Libraries of things for toys, kitchen and cleaning equipment, bikes etc.

Resources

Application handbook covering the criteria, what's involved, details on the application along with guidance on how to let your ideas sparkle.

Application T&Cs diving deep into everything the fund involves.

Application questions as a PDF.

Bid-writing webinar recording with lots of practical advice on showcasing your idea and what Hubbub looks for in applications.

AI tips to support your application.

Application form where you'll submit your entry.

Questions? Email foodhubs@hubbub.org.uk and Lily or Carla will get back to you.

Volunteers at a community fridge. An adult is crouched down, smiling, in front of an open fridge. To her right, a young girl is standing and smiling at the camera.
Applications close on 1st October, 11.59pm
Apply now

Case studies

Trelya in Cornwall used their Community Food Hub funding to host community food workshops. Participants said learning skills such as batch cooking, understanding seasonal produce, and improving knife skills have led to healthier habits at home. One participant described how shopping for one could be overwhelming and how she used to overcook and overeat but the cafe taught her about batch cooking and freezing meals in single portions. This has saved her time and money and helped her maintain a more balanced diet.​

Two young people are cooking together. The person in the foreground has red hair and is smiling whilst cutting up a yellow pepper on a green chopping board. The person in the background is brunette with a blonde fringe and is deseeding the pepper.

Over three months, Trinity Rooms in Stroud ran food preservation classes for 24 people, along with a course on using nettles and cleavers. Participants left the course with new skills in making ferments, chutneys, and jams using surplus locally available produce.​ Participants enjoyed - you might even say relished - the chance to come together to make food with others, rather than cooking at home alone.

Group of four women in an industrial community kitchen preparing food and smiling. All of the food and kitchen utensils are arranged in front of them as they prepare the meal

Canolfan in South Wales have been running community workshops to give locals the opportunity to learn, grow, harvest, prepare, and eat their own food. Three volunteers say their perspectives on food, food production, and waste have changed. They’ve learned the importance of saving, freezing, cooking, budgeting, and eating healthily, which has made them more mindful about food waste.​ People love to see the produce they've grown going into weekly food boxes.

A man and a woman smiling at eachother. The man is holding a box of home grown vegetables. They are wearing a black tshirt and a hair wrap. The woman is wearing a white cap and a multicoloured plaid shirt, camo trousers and glasses.

The new allotment provides at SAX Community Fridge in Suffolk with vegetables year-round, thanks to the polytunnel. This has become a very popular offering, as the vegetables grown are consistently of high quality. SAX Community Fridge has been able to offer a real variety of salad leaves each session, with people often trying varieties they’ve never seen before.​ A close-knit community has developed, with experienced members willingly passing on their knowledge to those with less experience.

Man stood behind a table display of amazing home grown vegetables holding a marrow. They are wearing a hat and have a beard
Someone washing a sieve at a community fridge kitchen.

This fund has been made possible by generous support from the Rothschild Foundation, Co-op, Starbucks Foundation and Starbucks UK.

Hungry for more?

If food waste were a country, it would be the third biggest polluter in the world. Find out how our campaigns have been shifting behaviours to take a bite out of the problem.

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