the Fruit and Veg Van is on its way!
Manchester Environmental Resource Centre initiative
(MERCi) is a charity based at Bridge 5 Mill on Beswick Street, Ancoats. Since
the summer, MERCi has been setting up a fruit and vegetable van, which will
operate like a mobile shop throughout Ancoats and Miles Platting. Finally, after
months of planning and organisation, Herbie the fruit and veg van is almost
ready to roll!
In an effort to make sure as many people can use the van
as possible, we visited a number of groups in the area for ideas on when and
where the van should stop. MERCi's open day in August gave people a chance to
mark on a map where they would like to be able to shop, as well as a chance
to suggest a name for our van. Despite lots of good suggestions (including 'Not
Mush-room' and 'The Big Green Mean Machine'), it was the short
but sweet 'Herbie' that we liked the best. In turn, a very successful 'Design-the
Van' competition run with Corpus Christi with St. Anne, St. Marks and Nicholas
Varley schools also saw hundreds of brilliant entries. This time, it was the
design of Al Shady Conteh, age 7, of St. Marks School that was chosen as our
final design.
Herbie is nearing its final stages of completion, so with
any luck will be on the streets trading in January. The van is going to be stopping
in a variety of different places, starting early in the morning at local schools
before visiting coffee mornings, sheltered accommodation and some roadside locations.
All the fruit and veg Herbie sells will be fresh, nutritious and cheap, and
we will try to offer customers as much of a selection as possible.
The van's exact route is still being finalised, but a leaflet
advertising exactly where and when Herbie will be trading will be posted through
doors very soon. In the meantime, if there are any questions about Herbie, or
anyone would like more information about MERCi, contact Kate or Peter at MERCi
on 0161 2731736, or e-mail us at merci@bridge-5.org. Look out for our website:
www.fruitandvegvan.co.uk, coming
soon!
