Cherwell Larder: Thursdays 11am, and Fridays at 4pm while supplies last at WISH, 4 The Parade, Kidlington. Ask to join our WhatsApp group for regular updates on additional distributions.
About Cherwell Collective
Our mission
Cherwell Collective, CIC works to reduce the carbon footprint of our community and build climate resilience. Our unique approach to climate action targets behavioural change and promotes holistic well-being for both the planet and the community
Our efforts to build climate resilience include:
Learn our Five Principles For Climatarian Living
Our history
Cherwell Collective emerged from the unique needs of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Community members and children stuck at home needed access to food. Volunteers worked together to collect food surplus and deliver meal kits to those in need via our Cherwell Larder Marketplace.
In time, we expanded into in-person services such as shared meals at our Climatarian Kitchen and helping people grow their own food with Harvest @ Home.
With our origins in the pandemic, feeding those in need, and preventing the waste of surplus food, we expanded into a larger overarching mission: helping the community build climate resilience and address the global climate crisis.
By preventing household waste, the primary missions of WISH and Oxford Party Library, we help to reduce the climate change emissions of our community by conserving resources.
Our mantra
Come for the
Food
Stay for the
Revolution
Meet the Cherwell Collective team
Services for everyone
Many of our users and volunteers initially get involved with Cherwell Collective for the food distributions during COVID-19. However, many stick around because they love the community and feeling a part of something bigger than themselves. Over time our community grows and grows.
We adopt a pay-what-you-can model. Our services are non-means tested to promote social equity and inclusion. Everyone who accesses our services has the opportunity to contribute back to the group, and most of our core volunteers use the services as well, creating a friends-helping-friends environment open to all.
Cherwell Collective is a grassroots organisation. Our programmes are designed by and for the local community. Our efforts have been celebrated for drastically reducing loneliness. We foster a friendly environment where all can ask questions and make small everyday changes to improve their environmental impact, no matter where they are starting from.
Our projects not only reduce waste, but increase collective knowledge. Our skills sharing and educational initiatives capitalise on local wisdom and keep our community at the centre of climate action.
We rely on volunteers from the community to make our projects run.
Supporting the vulnerable
While our services are for everyone, we support the vulnerable by reserving some of our resources for individuals in need. We work closely with refugees, migrants, social prescribers, and other disadvantaged groups who believe that reducing our impact on the climate is beyond their reach.
If you or someone you know could use extra help, feel free to let us know and we will do our best to help you directly or signpost you to other organisations and programmes.
Our impact and our evaluation
In our brief history, we’ve already had a significant impact, particular in preventing hundreds of thousands of car mile equivalents in greenhouse gas emissions. In 2023, these efforts were supported by The National Lottery Community Fund, which granted our WISH Partnership a full award to support climate action in Oxfordshire for 5 years.
Learn more about our impact and how we engage the community in ongoing evaluations to direct our work.
Impact Reports
01
Read the WISH Pilot project’s final report.
02
Read our impact report from Year 1 (2023-2024), and Year 2 (2024-2025).