Retail giants Iceland and Currys have teamed up to give free freezers to shoppers. Millions of people in the UK are currently under pressure from crippling energy, food and fuel costs, as pretty much everything but wages have risen drastically.
Last week, Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis wrote a letter to Jeremy Hunt urging the Government to scrap further energy price hikes - which are set to come into place in April. Martin Lewis said: "If we postpone this rise it is likely from July, wholesale prices will have got to the price cap and if the energy price cap which is set by the regulator and is dictated by wholesale prices, is lower than the energy price guarantee we pay the lower amount, and that is likely to happen from July.
"To put this national act of harm of increasing the price guarantee for just three months, to throw another 1.7 million people into fuel poverty taking it to 8.4 million, it seems unnecessary." While the UK waits for the Governement to take action to help those desperately in need, Currys and Iceland are taking action.
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To help, Currys will be providing selected households with a free freezer. Iceland and Birds Eye have collaborated with Currys, and will further help support the needs of individual families with face-to-face and online cooking classes, recipes and general help with budgeting.
Beginning next month, the project is only a trial and only a small group of people will be able to access it. At the moment, the trial is offered to those who live in properties owned by Clarion Housing Group in Salford, Greater Manchester.
The initiative comes after research from Manchester Metropolitan University showed that families switching from fresh to frozen food halve their food waste and reduce their household grocery bill by almost a quarter.
The initial pilot scheme will be evaluated by the university and a white paper of the results will be published and shared with UK policymakers, social landlords and local authorities. The pilot will track whether having better access to frozen food helps families to cut food waste and reduce their household food bill.
Iceland said it hoped its involvement would act as a “call to action” for policymakers to improve the accessibility to frozen food for lower-income households.
Currys will donate the freezers following a consultation with each household taking part, to identify the best solution for them based on their needs, available space and energy use, helping to mitigate the impact of energy price rises.
Richard Walker, Iceland's executive chairman, said: "The cost-of-living crisis is a concern for households across the UK and we know many people will be looking for ways to lower the cost of their food shop. This unique community project will help families with barriers to freezer ownership, and we hope that we will find that families can save money and improve their diets when they are able to access and use freezers and frozen food."
Birds Eye general manager Steve Challouma said: “By making healthy options more convenient, and by reducing food waste, we hope that this project succeeds in helping participating families and households adopt healthier and more affordable eating habits.”
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