SHOPPERS have saved hundreds on their food bills thanks to an affordable food scheme.
Kirklees Council in West Yorkshire is running a scheme which they say has saved residents more than £180,000 on food.
The scheme is run with The Bread and Butter Thing, an organisation providing access to low-cost food.
Members of the scheme can get three shopping bags full of food worth a minimum of £35 for just £7.50.
This includes a variety of food items with NHS healthy start vouchers able to be redeemed at the hubs, reports, Yorkshire Live.
The scheme that operates in the Kirklees Council area, works in partnership with supermarkets factories and farms to redistribute surplus food.
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This includes food that often ends up going to waste because it’s wrongly labelled or there is too much of it.
Cllr Paul Davies, Cabinet Member for Corporate Services said: "In this financial year, the scheme has provided 214,755 meals for local people, saving residents £184,000 on their food bills."
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Due to an increasing number of people turning to TBBT, an additional service is being provided at Cowlersley to meet the high demand.
Cllr Davies added: "I am very excited about the partnership with The Bread and Butter Thing and the launch of this new hub.
"I know that some families across our communities are struggling to put food on the table and the cost of living crisis is only adding more pressure.
"These hubs will make a big difference to those families, not only by providing affordable, nutritious food but also by offering other kinds of support and advice.
"We will be working closely with The Bread and Butter Thing team to help make this project a success.
In October, Kirklees Council’s Cabinet approved £125,000 to facilitate the opening of more hubs across the district.
At the time, four hubs were open in Kirklees – Chickenley, Dalton, Deighton, Howden Clough, and a fifth was proposed for Dewsbury Moor.
Mark Game, CEO of the Bread and Butter Thing said: “Our work is having an impact in low-income communities by reducing stress around food and enabling families to eat healthily and affordably.
"But we can’t ignore the fact that the rising cost of living is driving demand for our affordable scheme at an unprecedented rate with more than double the amount of new families registering each month as members compared to last year.
"Our members tell us that over 80% of them have previously had to skip meals to feed their families.
"By using TBBT, most save over £25 a week on their food budgets with the added benefits of better quality and a bigger variety of food.
"This leads to healthier lifestyles and puts money back in people’s pockets.”
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