South Cambridgeshire's Mobile Food Hub has launched a new electric vehicle thanks to a council grant.
The Mobile Food Hub reaches communities hit hardest by the cost of living to ensure residents have access to affordable food and essential items.
Each week, the Mobile Food Hub visits seven locations across South Cambs, including Duxford and Fowlmere.
The hub was co-ordinated by Hope CIC - a not-for-profit organisation based in Cambourne - which successfully bid for £20,000 in seed funding from the district council to begin the project last summer.
Now, the council has awarded £15,000 through the Zero Carbon Communities Grant towards the purchase of an electric vehicle to replace the current diesel van.
Hope CIC raised an additional £26,880 through fundraising, helped by match funding from the Aviva Community Fund and Crowdfunder Cost of Living Fund.
The combined total covers the van itself, the proper fitting out and the ongoing running costs.
As well as reducing carbon emissions, the new electric van is larger in size than the previous one and has been kitted out with shelving - enabling people to shop as they would in a supermarket.
The Mobile Food Hub offers fresh fruit and vegetables, essential items, personal hygiene products and household cleaning items, all sold at below retail price.
No vouchers or referrals are needed, and residents in need can just show up on the day and complete a short registration form.
Details of the stops can be found at www.hopeagainst.org/hopeonthegoschedule.
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Cllr Henry Batchelor, the council's lead cabinet member for communities, said: "The Mobile Food Hub has been a lifeline for residents that continue to feel the financial squeeze of the cost-of-living crisis, ensuring healthy, essential and affordable food is available each week.
"The new electric vehicle is a positive step to reduce our carbon footprint, expand the service to more residents, whilst also tackling food waste by distributing fresh food that is donated by supermarkets that would have ended up in landfill.
"We are proud to continue to work closely with the team at Hope CIC to ensure this service continues supporting our residents."
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