Vegan, organic and fermented foods are on offer from a new Preston service.

The Grimshaw Community Centre Food Hub runs an online shop offering a range of certified organic fruit and veg from a local farm, plus healthy treats from Preston-based businesses.

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The online shop opens each week from Thursday at 8pm until Sunday at 8pm. Orders are available to collect the following Wednesday from the community centre at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church in Grimshaw. There’s no minimum order and the only extra fee is a £1.50 charge to cover admin and running costs.

In this week’s shop you’ll find freshly picked local produce including beetroot (£1.20 for 500g), celeriac (£1.60 each) and spinach (£1.20 for 200g). To ensure variety, some fruit and veg is sourced elsewhere, such as ginger, clementines and butternut squash from Europe. There’s also a box available for £20, which contains 12 types of fruit and veg.

In addition you’ll find VegaRaw’s pitted dates, plus chewy choc chip cookies and fermented swede and celeriac made at the community centre.

Founder Alina Belousova started the GCC Food Hub after taking part in the Food Champions Programme. Funded by the Open Food Network, the programme aimed to help people in disadvantaged areas gain access to affordable, local produce.

Read more: Preston chosen for unique food hub service for disadvantaged areas

Alina said, “When I came to England six years ago it was my dream to have a local organic supplier. I saw the Blog Preston article about the Food Champions Programme so I enrolled right away.

“I now work with Alan from Growing With Nature in Pilling, who has been producing organic vegetables since 1982. We’ve worked hard to keep the prices affordable and not charge customers for delivery of orders to the community centre.

“Yes some prices are higher than you’ll see in the supermarkets. That’s because we’re not dealing in the same volumes. However, we are able to supply organic produce that you won’t often find in the shops, like kale and chard.

“Although we’re also in competition with other organic delivery services like Abel & Cole, we hope Preston people will appreciate our added benefits of being more sustainable and supporting our local farmers.”

For more information visit the GCC Food Hub on Facebook or contact Alina on 07522195051. To start buying, visit the online shop.

Will you be trying the GCC Food Hub? Let us know in the comments below.