eggcup

The 3R Foundation recently awarded £249 to eggcup for containers and labels for 1500 ready meals.

Eggcup is a food hub that collects surplus food and distributes it to members of the local community. Membership is based on need but does not require documentation or referral, unlike a foodbank. For a weekly fee of £5, members are able to collect food once a week from Eggcup’s shops in Lancaster and Morecambe, or from its food club in Carnforth. A typical weekly collection includes a selection of fresh fruit and vegetables, store cupboard staples such as pasta sauce, biscuits, and beans, and chilled items like meat, sausages, cheese, or ready meals.

Established in 2019, Eggcup now supports over 500 members and is supported by a team of more than 100 volunteers, who collectively contribute over 1,000 hours each month to collect, prepare, and distribute food across the district.

The grant was used to support a creative partnership between Eggcup and Bay Leadership Academy in Heysham. The school holds regular cooking events where students of all ages take part in a ‘big cook’, learning practical cookery skills while preparing ready meals for the local community.

Teachers select the recipes, Eggcup sources surplus ingredients, and the meals are cooked on-site using school facilities. Eggcup then collects and stores the meals, with half going to People-Food-Community, a project of Stanleys in Morecambe, and the rest to Eggcup’s Lancaster hub. The meals are typically frozen and distributed as needed. Each event produces several hundred ready meals using surplus food and volunteer effort, but containers and labels still have to be purchased. The grant funded enough packaging for 1,500 meals.

If the 3R foundation could help with funds for a vital piece of equipment, then clubs and groups can apply for a grant using our simple form here: