‘It’s not necessarily just about poverty, it’s also about food waste’
For Ruth Fairchild, Scarborough has been home for more than three decades.
The retired accountant and adult education tutor has lived in the town with her husband for 32 years.
The couple said that the beautiful setting of their seaside home is one of the biggest attractions to living in Scarborough, and they are big fans of the local music scene.
Mrs Fairchild volunteers at the Stephen Joseph Theatre shop and helps run Scarborough Community Fridge with 20 other volunteers.
“It’s not necessarily about poverty,” she said. “It’s about food waste.”
The team collects 300 kilogrammes of unsold food from shops each week and distributes it, for free, to anyone who needs it.
They have plans to take the project further, to provide store cupboard essentials and develop recipe cards.
“There is a need to link groups like ours with education on basic cooking skills, which have almost disappeared in some communities,” Mrs Fairchild said. “I know it’s asking a lot of the new council to get involved, but there must be a way to coordinate.”
She is passionate about cutting back on waste in general and recycling, reusing and repurposing.
She did express concerns about the geographical size that the new council will cover and the challenge that councillors will face in influencing how resources are allocated locally.
However, senior councillors have committed to ensure that the new authority listens to the views of residents across North Yorkshire to ensure that localism remains at the heart of the council, which launches on April 1 next year.
After experiencing different business models during her career, Mrs Fairchild says: “Big is not always beautiful. If you lose the connection between decision makers and those who know about the local environment, you lose an awful lot.”
Mrs Fairchild sees more affordable housing as critical to Scarborough’s future. She wants the new council to strike a balance between big infrastructure developments, and support for smaller businesses and residents struggling to achieve a good quality of life.
Her final ask is that the new council listens to all residents, not just the vocal few.