Welcome to our community

Getting started

In this page, you will find all the info you need to get started as an Eggcup member including what to expect on your first visit. Have a read through it. If you have any questions or concerns, just get in touch. We look forward to seeing you!

A bit about your Eggcup membership

Eggcup is all about food, people and community. The Eggcup membership scheme stops surplus food from going to waste and gets it to people instead. As a member, you’ll come to one of our Community Food Outlets every week to choose from the food we have available. You should save money on your weekly food bill, making life a bit more affordable. Through our Buying Coop, we’ll also offer you other household items to purchase from us at discount prices, so you can save even more. You can find out more about the Buying Coop further down on this page.

As a member of Eggcup, you could save over £20 a week on your food bill.

Your collection time

You will have spoken to the team at Lancaster City Council and decided which outlet you want to go to – Lancaster or Morecambe. You will also have chosen a day and a time slot to collect from us. Please make sure you come to the correct outlet at the right time. We work hard to make sure there is food available for all our members. If you come at the wrong time, we can’t guarantee there will be enough food for you.

Remember, you can come at any time within the time slot. For example, if your time slot is 10 am – 1pm you have a 3 hour window to  collect – you can come at any time from 10am all the way up to 1pm.

If you think you’ll miss your slot one week, please let us know as soon as possible, we may be able to fit you into another time instead. You can also nominate someone else to come and collect on your behalf, just let us know in advance so we know to expect them. We won’t give someone else your food unless you tell us. If you want to change your collection day/time, that’s not a problem, just get in touch.

Before you come

You’ll need to bring a few shopping bags with you to take your food home in. You’re likely to leave with 2 or 3 “bag for life” type bags full. If you’re walking or coming on public transport, you may want to consider bringing something to help you transport your bags home. Some people use little trollies or a decent rucksack.

How to find us

Lancaster

13 -15 Chapel St, Lancaster, LA1 1NZ

You’ll find the entrance opposite the bus station, on Wood St. It’s right next to Wood St car park.

Morecambe (Food, People, Community)

15 Claremont Rd, Morecambe, LA4 4HJ

Our Morecambe outlet is called “Food, People, Community”. You’ll find it on the corner of Claremont Rd and Albert Rd.

Zoom in on the map below to see exactly where our outlets are.

Your first visit

Here’s what to expect on your first visit to Eggcup:

  1. Arrive at your Outlet during your time slot and head inside. Please be mindful of the one-way system.
  2. You’ll be greeted by a volunteer who will take your name and register your visit on our system.
  3. The volunteer on the welcome desk will explain how it works and give you a leaflet with more information about Eggcup.
  4. That volunteer will also tell you about any items we have available to purchase as part of the buying cooperative that day.
  5. If you take any items from the buying coop you can pay for these at the welcome desk. We accept cash or card payments.
  6. You’ll then be called through to the food counters where another volunteer will take you through what food we have available that day.
  7. Once you’ve picked your food, it will be passed through to you in a crate for you to pack into your own bags.
  8. Once you’ve finished, you’re free to head out with your shopping through the exit door, ready to make some delicious meals at home!
The food we have

The food you collect from us will mostly be surplus – this is food that would otherwise go to waste, even though it’s still perfectly good to eat. We save this food from local businesses and other places and get it to our members.

Collecting your food from Eggcup is always exciting because we usually have different food available each week. We try to have a wide variety of cupboard fillers, chilled and frozen foods, fresh fruit and veg, and tasty treats available. But because most of our food is surplus, we can’t guarantee what you’ll be able to collect. It’s likely that you’ll still have to go to the supermarket to top-up, but you will discover new and exciting foods at Eggcup that you may not have tried otherwise!

What’s the deal with dates?

Some of the foods you collect from us may be past their BEST BEFORE date – this just means that the food might not be as fresh as when it was made, but it will still be safe to eat after this date. We will never give you any items that are past their USE BY date or food that is unsafe to eat. If you have any concerns about any food you’ve picked up from us, please just give us a call.

USE-BY: Food should not be eaten after this date as it may not be safe.

BEST-BEFORE: Food is at its best quality before this date but is safe to eat for a while afterwards.

The Buying Coop

We know there are some things our Members want to get each week, and where we can, we buy those items and offer them to you at cost price. This is our Buying Co-op, and you will be able to get food and household items from us at discount prices. It works because we have so many members that we can buy products in large quantities which makes it cheaper. Working together, we all save money.

You can choose what you want from the Buying Coop section and you’ll pay per item. This is extra and is not included in the membership fee. You may want to bring a bit of extra cash so you can take advantage of the savings.

Our member agreement

We want to make sure that you have a fantastic experience with Eggcup and can make the most of being a member. We’ll do everything we can to keep the service fair, safe and positive for everyone. You also have a vital part to play in this. So as a member, we ask that you agree:

Eggcup members must be at least 16.

This helps us to make sure we have enough food for everyone and avoid lengthy queues.

Membership fees contribute to our costs, and without them Eggcup couldn’t run. If you’re unable to pay one week, we may give you credit that week, but you’ll need to repay it the following week. If you don’t pay for more than 2 weeks in a row, or regularly don’t pay, we may have to suspend or cancel your membership. If this happens, we’ll try to help you find a more suitable support service. We won’t cancel your membership without trying to contact you first.

In order to make sure that we have places available for as many people as possible we cannot accept people who are already using another food club, and we only allow one member per household.

We want you to make the most of your membership. Members who don’t come regularly are taking a place that someone else could use. So, if you don’t attend for more than 2 weeks in a row or regularly miss collections without a reason, we may suspend your membership while we try to resolve the issue. If you continue not to come and don’t contact us, after 6 weeks we’ll cancel the membership.

We need to know how many members are coming each day so we can make sure we have the right amount of food. If you can’t come for any reason, please contact the office asap so we can avoid waste.

Everyone coming to Eggcup has the right to feel happy and safe. We don’t tolerate abuse or aggression towards our staff, volunteers or other members. Anyone behaving in this way will be asked to leave and is likely to have their membership cancelled.

The food that you receive from Eggcup is for your own use and it must not be sold or used for any other purpose.

Ok, this one’s not strictly necessary but we’d love for you to get involved, give us feedback and suggestions. Let us know how you use the food. Share recipes and ideas with other members. Eggcup is all about our members and our community coming together to support each other, so get involved!

Frequently asked questions

Here’s a list of questions that new members often ask. Click the question to open the answer. If you have a question that’s not covered here, just get in touch.

Put simply, food surplus occurs when the supply of food is more than the demand for it. But there are many ways and reason that this can happen. Here are a few examples:

Over production – It’s not easy for producers, manufacturers and retailers to forecast exactly how much stock they will need. Lots of factors will make a difference such as the weather and seasonal demand e.g. Christmas.

Logistics and distribution – Sometimes things go wrong when moving food to where it needs to be, especially with fresh food.

Damage to packaging – Producers or retailers may not be able to sell foods if their packaging has become damaged, or the labels are incorrect even if the product itself is still fine. Products can become damaged in the production process or when being transported.

“Imperfections” – You will probably have heard of “wonky veg”. Sometimes retailers will reject foods that do not meet strict guidelines on appearance. The food is still totally edible and the nutritional value is just the same.

No, Eggcup is not a foodbank. Eggcup is a community membership scheme where members usually pay a membership fee. This helps to cover the costs of running the scheme. The food is not donated by the public, we work with businesses to stop surplus food from going to waste. Eggcup relies on our members in order for the scheme to work. 

Yes, members should come to collect their food every week. We need to know how many members are coming each day so we can make sure we have enough food. If you can’t make it on your usual day, just get in touch and we may be able to find another day you can come that week. If you’re going to be away for a week or two, please let us know in advance.

If you don’t attend for two weeks in a row without telling us, we’ll send you a message to check that you’re OK. If we don’t hear from you, we’ll put your membership on hold. You can restart your membership anytime by giving us a call.

All the food we have available will have labels on the packaging with the ingredients displayed. However, if you have any concerns you can speak to a volunteer when collecting your food, or call the office on 01524 928027.

We do our best to have a wide range of foods for our members each week.  However, we cannot guarantee that certain items will always be available. We’ll always make sure that all our members get a fair and equal share of the food we have.

It’s unlikely that you will receive all the food your household needs for the whole week. You will probably need to top up from the shops. But you should get a good range of foods that will help you to save money on your food shop.

On your last collect of the 8 free weeks, we will ask you if you’d like to become a full member. If you would, you’ll need to complete a short form. It only takes a couple of minutes and you can do it while you’re with us. Then you can continue to collect as normal from the following week. After your 8 free weeks membership costs £5 per week.

Right now we are partnered with Lancaster City Council to offer new members 8 free weeks of membership. After that, you can continue your membership for £5 a week.

Eggcup does not accept people who are already using another food club. We want to make sure as many people as possible are able to be part of a food club.

You can pay your membership fee by cash or by card at the outlet when you collect your food.

Yes, Buying Coop items are not included in your membership fee. You can choose if you want anything from the Buying Coop section and pay per item, just like in a shop. We display the prices next to each item.

The money we receive from membership fees pays towards Eggcup’s running costs. Eggcup is a not-for-profit community scheme and without membership fees it would not be possible for us to keep running. The money you pay for Buying Coop items just covers the cost of us getting it, we pass these items on to you at the price it cost us.

No, members can only come to Eggcup once each week. You should come on the same day that was agreed when you joined.

Right now, we want to make sure our memberships are available for those who are finding things most difficult. We’re working with Lancaster City Council to ensure priority is given to people facing financial difficulties. Other than that, anyone can be a member!

You can cancel your membership at any time. We just ask that you get in touch and let us know so we know not to expect you and can remove your personal details from our system. We also really want to hear your thoughts on how Eggcup is doing, so we’ll ask if you are happy to take a short survey to give us some feedback.

Get involved!

Eggcup wouldn’t exist without all our amazing members and volunteers. We want Eggcup to be shaped by the members. Is there anything else we should be doing or anything you think we could do better? If you have any suggestions, please let us know.

You can also get more involved by helping out as a volunteer. We rely on volunteers for all sorts of jobs such as sorting food, serving in the outlets and cleaning the warehouse. Our volunteers are all local people and many are Eggcup members. We’re always in need of more help and we’d love for you to get involved! To find out more about volunteering just give us a call on 01524 928027 or email: admin@eggcup.org