The GGP Rebel Riders Team begun its surplus mission in 2016, inspired by The Magic Hat Cafe in Newcastle and how they used surplus food to create a pay-as-you-feel culture.

Our 3 aims of the surplus project are: Create equal access to food, spark new conversations, and ultimately regain food sovereignty.

We put our project into action by collecting surplus food from supermarkets to feed whoever we can reach. Using the surplus combined with our garden produce for our pop-up pay-as-you-feel Spiral Garden Cafe, we were able to save perfectly good food from being thrown away by using it to bring people together around a healthy and established three-course meal. This enabled us to create a sustainable platform for people seeking refuge to meet UK citizens on an equal level.

We also were able to branch out and reach even more people by redistributing surplus food across Greater Manchester in the form of nutritious food boxes put together by our dedicated volunteers. During the pandemic, the demand for fresh food provision increased and our Rebel Riders crew grew. We now pick up from up to 10 supermarkets and drop to roughly 7 organisations or individuals. We can directly and indirectly feed over 1,800 people in one week by redistributing surplus food, and we only hope to continue to grow.