Last week we were absolutely thrilled to win the Eco Community Group award at this year's Norwich and Norfolk Eco Awards. The annual event, a joint initiative between Norwich City Council and Norfolk County Council, was hosted this year by Professor Ben Garrod who called the awards 'a real celebration of the effort people are making to do their bit for the planet'.
The judges chose us as the Eco Community Group winner because of the way we tackle both environmental issues and social inequality. They said that our work 'shows that we can’t separate out environmental and social sustainability – the way in which things like food circulate around society has implications for both the environment and for social inequality; this initiative shows how we can begin addressing those two challenges together.'
As well as a winning a wooden trophy that will take pride of place in our Cadge Road base, sponsors Pixie Energy donated a £500 prize that is invaluable in sustaining our future development. As a volunteer-run community group, we are totally dependent on grants, awards and donations to keep us running and help us to grow and develop so we can do even more in the future.
We ARE our volunteers so this award celebrates everyone involved in the FoodHub, whether you collect food, help to sort it, or have a more organizational role. We wouldn't be able to do what we do without our partner retailers and community organizations so we want to thank them for their contribution too.
The more volunteers we have then the more we can do to reduce food waste and help to combat food poverty. Even if you sign up for just one collection a month, your work can make a huge difference. By working together as a community, as well as with our wider local community, we want to achieve even more in the future.