More than 250 local people received free food in the run up to Christmas thanks to the Zero Waste Stall at the Ross Food Hub.

A spokespersons for the hub said a long and happy queue formed for a special evening opening at the Community Garden in Old Gloucester Road on Christmas Eve

The Stall served over 150 customers with food that would otherwise have gone to waste, with many collecting for family and friends too.

This came on top of the Stall’s regular morning opening, which served 80 customers.

A special "end-of-shopping-day" collection saw volunteers collect almost two tonnes of food from supermarkets in Ross, Monmouth, and Ledbury.

They gave away about half on the day—with the rest saved for future days.

Even with free carrots for Rudolph, there are only so many you can give away at once!

One customer commented: ‘What a fantastic hour plus.

"There was so much, and everyone was cheerful especially all the volunteers without them none of this would have been possible. They even collected food from Monmouth!!!

"What a great team of volunteers...through rain, snow, and sunshine, they turn out every day to help stop food going to waste and are always helpful and cheerful.

"The people of Ross are so lucky to have such people"

The team of more than 40 volunteers collect unwanted food from supermarkets and give it away free six days per week.

Since opening in late 2020, the Zero Waste Stall has given away nearly 70 tonnes of food to over 20,000 visiting customers.

Nothing is wasted—anything that customers don’t take goes to a local chicken farm for feed.

Anyone interested can find out more about the Zero Waste stall at facebook.com/RossZWS