We are currently fundraising towards the Sharing Shed, please click to make a donation

💙

We are currently fundraising towards the Sharing Shed, please click to make a donation 💙

The Sharing Shed

Reducing food waste and spreading kindness.

The Sharing Shed is our Community Fridge and Larder which aims through the redistribution of surplus food to reduce food waste in the Thurso area from entering landfill. We have a monthly delivery of food from CFINE via Fareshare and collect food waste from local businesses and supermarkets. The aim of the Sharing Shed is sharing rather than wasting and the shed is open to all. Located at Thurso Youth Club on Millbank Road the Shed is open 7 days a week from around 10am - 5pm currently.

We are currently fundraising towards the Sharing Shed, if you can make a donation please click on the button below. Or read on for many other ways you can get involved.

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  • The Shed is currently open seven days a week from around 10am - 5pm. We are reliant on volunteers to open and close the shed but fundraising towards an automatic lock which means we can open for longer.

  • The Sharing Shed is located at the side of Thurso Youth Club on Millbank road. We have a handy map below to show you where it is. If you are coming from the direction of Thurso Swimming Pool, take the lane at the side of Thurso Free Church and follow it down to the bottom. The Sharing Shed is through the archway behind the staircase. If you are coming from the direction of the Riverside then follow the path up towards Mount Vernon and you will find the Shed at the top of the path.

  • The Sharing Shed is open to anyone in the community to access. There is no judgement and no stipulations on who can access food or other items from it. We encourage people to share so it might be that you can pop something into the shed to share with others or you may just need to access the food support and you are free to do so.

  • The Sharing Shed is all about reducing food waste, you are doing us, the Thurso Community and the planet a favour by accessing food from the Sharing Shed. The food and other items there would otherwise go to waste and contribute towards landfill carbon emissions. Accessing the Sharing Shed is not remotely linked to income or finances.

  • Caithness Foodbank operates on a referral basis, upon referral you would then receive a 3 day supply of food with everything that you could possibly need to keep you or your household stocked up. On making that referral any agency locally will also discuss with an individual any other help and support that might be needed including making sure that all benefits someone is entitled to are being received, budgeting advice and anything else that might be needed. Referrals can come from most of our community organisations. You can contact us for a referral or your GP or Caithness Citizens Advice. The Sharing Shed is an ad hoc supply of food, we never quite know what we might have and our main focus is keeping that food from entering landfill by sharing it. Food from the Sharing Shed might be enough to stave off a crises but if you are in serious crises and need a supply of food please contact us for a referral and additional support.

  • Please then pop down and access the Sharing Shed. It is an ad hoc supply of food so we can’t always guarantee what might be there. Take a look at our delivery and pick up guidance below for the best times to access the shed. That will help you out a little but we would encourage you to seek further support. We can do a referral for you to Caithness Foodbank which will give you a supply of food to cover full meals and also refer you to Caithness Citizen’s Advice or the Highland Council Welfare Team for advice on how to maximise your income or any other support that might be available. Contact us on 01847 867310 or by email to info@thursocdt.co.uk or drop us a PM on social media.

  • You can help to support the Sharing Shed in a number of ways…

    1. Simply popping any food that you have down to the Sharing Shed. If coming from a home we are unable to accept cooked food but we will accept anything else as long as it is still sealed. Just pop it into the Shed onto one of the shelves or into the fridge or freezer at anytime.

    2. You can make a monetary donation. We have set up a Just Giving Campaign. Donating in this way if you are a UK taxpayer means that we can collect Gift Aid on your donation.

    3. We also have an Amazon Wishlist where you can purchase food items for the Sharing Shed. The purchase will come directly to us as a delivery.

    4. You can also pop any food donations into us at Socially Growing below the Trust Offices in Rotterdam Street and we can take them over to the Sharing Shed, we have a basket in the shop.

  • The golden rule to remember is that best before dates are about quality and use by dates are about food safety. If an item has a use by date (these are normally fresh items) it is unsafe to consume it past that date. If an item has a best before date (these are usually dried items on which bacteria can’t grow) then items may still be fine to be consumed but think in terms of your donation if you would eat it? Would you still eat it? If you wouldn’t then would you expect someone in the community to still eat it? For those reasons we would prefer that food donated is still within its use by or best before date.

  • Any business who has food which might otherwise be going to waste is more than welcome and encouraged to donate it to the Sharing Shed. We can do pick ups or we can supply details of how you can access the shed outwith opening times. For fresh or cooked food it needs to come from a food hygiene certified business. Please get in touch with us to arrange via email to info@thursocdt.co.uk

  • Please get in touch, we are actively seeking business currently to sponsor the Sharing Shed for a period of time, likely a month in return for a financial or food purchase donation. It would really help us out given the cost of living crises and the support we anticipate will be needed throughout the community. Please contact us to info@thursocdt.co.uk if this is something you feel your business could offer.

  • We more than welcome any of these items but please ensure that they are in a sealed and un-used condition.

  • Yes! Absolutely! Please follow the guidance above regarding use by and best before dates but absolutely we will take the food, cleaning materials or any toiletries. If you have a large quantity then let us know and we may be able to arrange a pick up.

The Sharing Shed, everything you need to know…

Best times to visit the Sharing Shed

The Sharing Shed has an ad-hoc supply of food as it is surplus food. We never quite know what we might have in the Sharing Shed from one week to the next. But there are times where you might find the Sharing Shed to have a wider selection than at other times.

  • We receive our CFINE delivery normally on the second Monday of each month and thoroughly top up the Sharing Shed when it arrives.

  • We do collections from Thurso Co-op on Saturday and Sunday evenings so you find that there may be a wider selection of fresh food in the Sharing Shed on Sunday’s and Monday’s. If we get any particularly large pickups especially of fresh items we usually let everyone know via our social media so it is worth following us on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to get the latest news.

  • We collect from Johnston’s of Thurso mid-week usually on a Wednesday so you will find bakery items usually in the Sharing Shed on those days.

We are looking to increase pick ups and donations from local businesses over the Winter period of 2022/23. If you are a local business who has food which might otherwise go to waste please get in touch. Similarly if you could help with pick ups from local businesses as a volunteer we would love to hear from you.

 

Sharing Shed Location

The Sharing Shed is located on Thurso Riverside at:

Thurso Youth Club, Millbank Road, KW14 8PS

If you make your way to Thurso Leisure Centre/Swimming Pool which is at the back of Thurso Tesco, you will then see opposite the pool Thurso Free Church. At the side of the Church, there is a lane which leads you down towards the Mill Theatre and Thurso Youth Club. Go through the archway and you will find the Sharing Shed located at the side of an outside stairway.

If you are on Thurso Riverside and travelling by foot you can follow the path which leads from the Boating Pond Footbridge towards Mount Vernon. Continue following the path and when you reach the top of the little steep hill at the side of Thurso Youth Club, you will find the Sharing Shed directly in front of you.

Sharing Shed Latest News

We are launching a campaign over the Winter period of 2022/23 in conjunction with other organisations throughout Caithness working with the Caithness Poverty Action Group to increase awareness of the need for food in our communities due to the cost of living crises. For us here at Thurso Community Development Trust and the Sharing Shed that means we will be holding various food drives to encourage those who can donate surplus food to do so, seeking business sponsorship to maintain the Sharing Shed alongside launching a fundraising campaign and fundraising activities. The Sharing Shed and supporting our community through the cost of living crises is our current main priority. We know that times are tight for everyone but if there is anything that you can do to help from making a donation, sharing that unwanted tin of beans or volunteering to help with food collections and deliveries, please read on to learn more and get in touch.

Read more in our Sharing Shed Blog

Get Involved

Would you like to get involved in helping us with the Sharing Shed? We are definitely on the look our for volunteers who can assist in stocking, opening, closing and doing collections from local businesses. We’ve listed the different types of volunteer roles below, you can choose to do one or a few to support the Sharing Shed. Volunteering is super easy. We have a bank of volunteers who take turns at the different duties like opening and closing, all co-ordinated via a Whatsapp Group, supported by our Sharing Shed Co-Ordinator, Anne Brown. Volunteers can give as much or as little time as they want to, however fits around their lives. Even if you commit to helping on a certain day but something comes up there is always someone in the group who will jump in and cover you. Plus, they are a right friendly bunch with several having made life long friendships through volunteering with the Sharing Shed. All of our volunteers are offered completion of Level 2 Food Hygiene Certification free of charge.

We are looking to shortly install an automatic lock but at the moment volunteers open and close the Shed. This involves taking your turn on a rota basis to either open or close. The Sharing Shed should be opened by around 10am each day (we have a 7 day a week operation) but depending on how it suits you, it could be opened at 8am in the morning. We only ask that it is open by around 10am. Similar with closing, we generally close the Sharing Shed at around 5pm but if you are a bit earlier or later, then that is fine! For some volunteers they do a little bit of stocking up or cleaning when they open or close but others don’t have the time to do that and that is fine as well. It is as much or as little as you would like.

Volunteering to open or close

Volunteering to stock up/help with deliveries

We receive our CFINE/Fareshare delivery once a month. It is usually around 500kg of food, two pallets full. That takes quite a lot for us to get packed away either into our store or into the Sharing Shed and we need to move it pretty quickly! Even more so during the winter when it might be raining or there is a risk to the food. We would greatly benefit from people who might be able to help when it arrives so we can get it packed away. Usually timing (it can vary) would be around 10am - 11am on the second Monday of the month. We do get prior notification of the delivery and by signing up to help we would give you a shout through the Whatsapp Group.

We also need regular help with stocking up the Sharing Shed from our stores and this could be done at anytime it suits you to volunteer.

Volunteering with Pick Ups

Could you help by doing collections from local businesses and supermarkets for the Sharing Shed?

For the supermarkets, we have collection slots mainly from Thurso Co-Op, this is a volunteer role that is done late at night so may not suit everyone. The collections from Supermarkets are generally around 9.30pm and then the food needs to be put away as it is often fresh. We have a light in the shed and also head torches when it comes to the winter months. It can on occasion be quite a lot that needs to be collected so a car is essential. We can pay for your mileage costs.

There are other collections from local businesses through the week, Johnston’s collection is on a Wednesday afternoon and we are hoping that we can increase business donations over the winter period so there may be more volunteer opportunities available.

The Sharing Shed is supported by:

We are members of the HUBBUB Community Fridge Network and share all best practices with them including having current Food Hygiene Certification for the Sharing Shed and following all risk assessment principles.

We also very keenly follow the Nourish Scotland Guidelines for Dignity in Food Practice believing that everyone who needs to access emergency food provision should have the right to choose, feel dignity and access easily any additional support that may be needed in a holistic, non judgmental approach.