News & Features

The Church of England has released a Christmas advert on YouTube inviting people to come to church this Christmas. See it here.

We have made a change to the day of the week that weekly email upates are set up. Previously it was sent out each Monday, but an enhancement to the design of the site means we can choose the day we want. We have chosen Friday as it is just before the weekend, i.e. when most stuff benefitting from reminders happens.

Dereham Community Fridge is hosted by Green Pastures Bookshop, 20 High Street Dereham, managed by Love Dereham and in partnership with Breckland District Council.

The fridge was set up to give businesses and individuals the opportunity to donate good quality food items that are past their ‘best by’ date, but within their ‘use by’ date, which would otherwise be thrown away. ANYONE is then able to visit the fridge and take something out that they can use. The primary aims are to reduce food waste and to give people access to good quality free food. There are times when the fridge is full and there are times when it is empty, the idea is to just come along and see if there is something you can use. Any food that passes its ‘use by’ date is then used for animal feed and compost.

For more details on how you can get involved please see the contact details and opening hours below.

We hold a coffee morning on Thursdays from 9.30 until 12.00 which is a nice place to meet new friends and to chat to those you already know. There is no specific charge but we do suggest a small donation of £1 to cover our expenses. We serve hot and cold drinks, as many as you want, cakes on the tables and at around 11am we serve toasted tea cakes. We have celebration events such as our Christmas Dinner and occasional buffet lunches which are all great fun. We can also arrange lifts for anyone unable to walk there or who is without transport so it is ideal for those who can not always get out and about.

The majority of people are aged over 50, however we have had some younger people come along recently and that is great. It is important for us to have events that cross the generations. It also means that we could then have some younger people who can help out in the kitchen.

At the moment anyone on the rota for helping out in the kitchen is on duty around every 4 weeks. This does not however give us much scope to cover holidays or illness so we would really love to have a few more volunteers on our list. The more people we have the less often each person is on the rota. It would be great to get us back to a situation where each person is only on duty once every 6 weeks.

It is actually quite rewarding being in the kitchen. Part of the duty is to greet people as they come in and ask what they would like to drink. If it is someone new you may be the first person they speak to. There are always at least 2 people in the kitchen together so you are never just left there on your own. It only involves making drinks, collecting up cups and washing up. Toasting the teacakes is usually done by one of the regular helpers, although it is fine for anyone to do that as well.

If you are interested in coming along and/or helping out just turn up on a Thursday and ask for Lizzie.

If you would like to ring me my number is 01362 850491.

(You do have to announce who you are as we have call guardian to stop all those nuisance calls getting through.)