By KLTV Newsdesk –

A decade of affordable food, friendship and community spirit was celebrated at the Crosland Moor Hub on 10 September, as The Bread and Butter Thing (TBBT) marked its 10th anniversary.

What began ten years ago with a single van delivering surplus food to one community in Manchester has grown into one of the UK’s largest member-based food redistribution charities, supporting more than 100,000 households every week across more than 160 communities in England.

And among those communities is Crosland Moor.

The local hub, based at Huddersfield Seventh-day Adventist Church, joined Bread and Butter Thing hubs across the country in marking the organisation’s milestone birthday with a special celebration bringing together members, volunteers and supporters.

There was cake, conversation and plenty of community spirit – a fitting way to celebrate an organisation whose impact has always been about much more than food.

Four years of community in Crosland Moor

The celebration had an additional significance for the Crosland Moor Hub, which itself marked its fourth anniversary in August.

Over those four years, the hub has become a familiar and welcoming part of community life, providing local people with access to good-quality food at a price designed to help household budgets go further.

But, as anyone involved with the hub will tell you, Bread and Butter is about far more than what goes into the shopping bags.

It is about people meeting people, neighbours getting to know one another, volunteers giving their time, sharing a conversation over a cup of tea and creating a place where people feel welcome and valued.

Edwin Baker, Crosland Moor Hub Co-ordinator, said: “The last four years have shown us that this is about so much more than affordable food. It’s about people, relationships and community. To be able to celebrate the hub’s fourth anniversary and The Bread and Butter Thing’s tenth birthday together is something we can all be really proud of.”

A huge local impact

The scale of the wider impact across Kirklees is significant.

There are currently 10 Bread and Butter Thing hubs operating across Kirklees, supporting around 8,500 members.

During 2025 alone, Kirklees hubs helped local households save an estimated £741,000 on their food bills and provided the equivalent of more than 917,000 meals.

Members can access a selection of fresh fruit and vegetables, chilled products and cupboard staples for around £8.50, with the food typically worth considerably more at supermarket prices.

For families and individuals facing continuing pressure from household bills, that difference can be substantial.

Nationally, the figures are even more striking.

Over the past decade, The Bread and Butter Thing says it has unlocked the equivalent of around 70 million meals, while its latest impact figures show that more than 9,000 tonnes of surplus food have been saved from waste, representing around 21.4 million meals in its most recent reporting year.

The organisation’s 2025 impact figures also reveal that:

• 155 communities were being supported across 34 local authorities in the latest annual reporting;
• 183,000 hours were contributed by volunteers in 2025;
• 206 partner organisations worked with TBBT to provide additional support through its hubs;
• 79% of members said they were eating more fruit and vegetables;
• 71% said they were cooking more meals at home;
• 97% said they felt welcome at their Bread and Butter hub; and
• 99% said Bread and Butter was good for their community.

The organisation’s independent 2026 Social Value Report estimated that TBBT generated more than £132 million in social value during 2025, equivalent to approximately £19.07 of social value for every £1 invested.

Volunteers at the heart of the story

Behind every successful hub are the volunteers who make the weekly operation possible.

At Crosland Moor, volunteers have played a crucial role in creating the friendly atmosphere that has helped make the hub such an important part of local community life.

For long-standing volunteer Niki Trepak, the experience has been about seeing first-hand how something as simple as affordable food can bring people together.

Niki said: “It’s been wonderful to see how the hub has grown and how people have become part of a real community. You start by coming for the food, but you soon realise that the friendships, conversations and sense of belonging are just as important.”

Her experience reflects a wider finding from TBBT’s research: the hubs are increasingly becoming places where people can connect, find information, access additional support and feel less isolated.

More than a food club

The success of The Bread and Butter Thing comes from a simple but powerful idea – taking good-quality surplus food that might otherwise go to waste and making it available to communities at an affordable price.

But its evolution over ten years demonstrates that the model is about much more than food redistribution.

Bread and Butter hubs have become trusted community spaces where people can access advice and support on issues ranging from household finances and energy costs to housing, digital skills and wellbeing.

At a time when many households continue to face significant financial pressures, that combination of affordability, dignity and community connection has never been more important.

The Crosland Moor celebration on 10 September was therefore about more than marking a birthday.

It was a chance to celebrate the people who make the hub what it is – the members, volunteers, coordinators, partners and the wider community – and to recognise four years of local achievement alongside a remarkable decade of national growth.