Community Larder

Rose Hill Community Larder

In 2019 MCS launched Rose Hill Community Larder with a mission to reduce food waste and provide access to nutritious, healthy and affordable food.

The larder is run in partnership with SOFEA (the South Oxfordshire Food and Education Alliance), a charity established by MCS alumnus Richard Kennell. The charity aims are to enable the transformation of people’s lives, and their communities, with a major focus on young people by tackling food insecurity while having a positive impact on the environment. The charity rescues and re-distributes food surplus to community organisations throughout the Thames Valley region, providing access to inexpensive, high-quality food and reducing wastage.

About the project

How is MCS involved?

Rose Hill Community Larder is managed by a dedicated team of MCS staff, assisted by pupil volunteers as part of the school’s Community Service Organisation (CSO) programme whereby the Lower Sixth contributes to community projects across Oxfordshire for one afternoon a week. The pupil volunteers are assisted by additional helpers from the MCS parent and staff body during term holidays. Larder groceries, household and personal care items reach over 350 local people each week.

Based at the Rose Hill Community Centre Social Club, the Larder enables members, almost all of whom are local residents, to choose grocery items and collect fresh fruit and vegetables which would otherwise go to waste. Members also receive free toiletries and household cleaning products, recipe cards, holiday activity packs for children and Christmas gifts.

In addition to the weekly grocery collections, the Larder partners with a wide range of local organisations and has become a well-established source of information and community involvement, which in turn  has fostered other partnerships. 

The impact of Rose Hill Community Larder in our local community in 2024: