The Village Larder is doing its part to tackle food waste in West Kilbride - by giving away surplus food for free.

The initiative teams up with local supermarkets, volunteers and green-fingered growers to give the community a grocery shopping boost while reducing waste in the village.

Larder volunteer Dawn Williamson believes it is vital that surplus food reaches the cupboards and fridges of those in need.

She explained: “We exists to help people who are struggling to access food with dignity at a subsidised cost.

“Almost 200 people have used the larder since we opened two years ago and we have about 40 regulars every week.

“As well as helping residents, we are really passionate about doing our part for the environment to help reduce food waste and cut carbon emissions.

“Identifying, collecting and redistributing surplus food is how we can do this and we don’t like to waste anything.”

The larder has a number of clever ways to ensure if food is not sold, it can be given to those most in need for free before it goes to waste.

Dawn said: “Every day before we open, we collect from local supermarkets where we get items like fruit and veg that are nearing their use by date and popular surplus bakery items like bread and rolls.

“We also use Olio – an app where people can list surplus items collected from supermarkets ready to be collected for donation by community groups like our larder.

“Other surplus surprises come from a local restaurant that we collect from once a week, and we have a great relationship with local grower Fi Thorburn who heads up the SHED horticulture group.

Fi and her team of volunteers are growing vegetables in the village for Dawn to either sell or give away to larder members.

At the end of each larder session, any leftover surplus is taken to the local warm hub – open on Thursdays and Fridays from midday to 3pm at West Kilbride Parish Church.

Ward councillor Alan Hill has hailed the scheme and its volunteers for their work in helping to tackle food waste.

He said: “The Village Larder is an inspiring example of how communities can band together to help us to tackle the problem of food waste.

“Instead of going straight to the bin, the larder is improving the lifecycle of donated food items, ensuring that no good food ends up in the bin.

“It’s a great way to reduce our carbon footprint.”