Who we are

We started when the three co-founders / co-directors (Chris Woodfield, Heather McClure and Chris Byrne) met in 2015/16 to set up Aberystwyth University’s Sustainability Society. We started collecting food waste from Morrisons supermarket in Aberystwyth.

Fast-forward to 2024, we are continuing to take a regenerative and solutions focused approach to achieving and celebrating a positive impact on the food system.

Although there is a core team that lead the project, our daily actions are completely reliant on volunteers and community networks. Aber Food Surplus has a fantastic team of over 60 volunteers.

Our Community Food Hub is supported by the National Lottery Community Fund, and over the years the hub has outgrown 2 premises and has recently moved in to a prime highstreet location in Aberystwyth. Come and visit us at 5 Great Darkgate Street, SY23 1DE.

Meet the team:

Chris Woodfield

Chris is a passionate outdoorsperson, environmentalist and community activist. He studied at Aberystwyth University and a MSc in Sustainability and Adaptation at the Centre for Alternative Technology where he explored nature connection, happiness, kindness and pro-environmental behaviour change. As well as Co-Founding Aber Food Surplus, Chris leads on the Friends of the Earth Bee Friendly initiative, Plastic Free Aberystwyth and the beach cleaning movement in Aberystwyth. He enjoys cold-water wild swimming, trail-running, gardening and spending time in nature. 

What’s motivating him right now? How can we bring more empathy, kindness and compassion into the environmental movement, i.e. not just raising awareness, but raising compassion and taking action in a collaborative way.  

What you might not know about Chris: One day he dreams of becoming a yoga-instructor and massage therapist. 

Heather McClure

Heather has a passion for the wilderness, outdoor sports, world foods, and cooking outdoors. She is interested and inspired by the glimmers of people’s self-reliance and making things from natural materials and in harmony with nature. Heather graduated with a BSc in Geography, and an MA in Regional and Environmental Policy. Her experience as a secondary school maths teacher showed her how fun and purpuseful working with students is, and through Aber Food Surplus she loves sharing food system conversations with young people. Working towards a community food hub space has always been important to Heather, having grown up in the city with a connection to Hong Kong, she is fascinated by entrepreneurialism, reinventing the highstreet, exploring governance, and creating exciting social spaces that meet our changing community needs.  

What is motivating her right now? Always the farmers in La Via Campesina, the global peasant movement that has so much to offer to our relationship with food, our natural selves and our landscapes.

What you might not know about Heather: Heather lives off grid and she plays saxaphone in the ska-punk band ‘Reckless Breakfast’.

Chris Byrne

Chris is...not very good at writing bio’s, but here goes... He grew up in Northern England, and after a few years of working, post school, he recognised he had a keen interest in food systems and their interactions with the world around them.  From here followed a BSc in Agriculture and Countryside Management, an MSc in Food and Water Security, and now he is writing up his PhD thesis.  He recently moved to Scotland, and works in Scottish Government.  He enjoys knitting, running, walking up big hills, seeing the world, and watching re-runs of Murder, She Wrote – most of those in the company of his beagle.  

What’s motivating him right now? A rapidly approaching PhD deadline.  That, and playing even a small role in pushing toward a more environmentally sensitive and resilient food system.  

What you might not know about Chris: His dream is to set up his own organisation educating young people about food production systems and encouraging them to consider potential careers in this sector...he should probably get moving with this quite soon! 

Laura Cooper

Laura is passionate about ethical food and sustainable living;  saving seed, growing edible plants and soil health - and she has recently been introduced to the fascinating world of fermenting and pickling! When Laura is not planting or pickling, she is working on obtaining her Masters in Sustainable Food Systems with the Centre for Alternative Technology (CAT). Laura believes the academic base she is developing at CAT will fuel her ambitions of making access to sustainably produced, healthy and nutritious food available to all.

CAT introduced Laura to a whole new way of academic thinking, which deeply impacted the way she conceptualises the world. Through working with and learning from the local community at the ECO Food Sharing Hub, Laura is starting to align her academic knowledge, practice and her values as an eco-citizen. 

What’s motivating her right now? Right now, inspired by the determined youth strikes sweeping the globe, and also more locally by our compassionate volunteers at the Aber Food Surplus, Laura is focused on positively harnessing the growing public interest in the climate crisis. She believes we need to build on this momentum to change the landscape of both food use and food waste, and that Aber could act as a great example!

What you might not know about Laura: Laura spends most of her time thinking about food; what people are eating and where their food is coming from. She hopes one day to train as a dietitian so that she might better turn all this thinking time into practical and healthful, sustainable action.

Elin Haf Davies

Bio to follow

Claire Rhydwen

Claire is inspired by nature, fruit and vegetables and is passionate about growing and inspiring others to grow food.

Claire’s passion for growing was ignited many years ago when doing a permaculture design course. There was no turning back. As a Director with Dyfi valley seedsavers and conscious of the need to protect a diversity of seeds she undertook a project called the Welsh vegetable trials. The Welsh vegetable trials scoured Wales for locally seeds, then trialled them with local growers aiming to bulk up available stocks and preserving local seed Heritage. Two such successes were the Llanover pea and the Mach Mini, now available to purchase via the Welsh Seed Hub!

Having done the Pathways to Farming programme during lockdown, she set up a small business called ‘Nature’s basket’, raising veg and plants for the local community.

Motivations right now are the projects she’s working on – empowering local producers to sell their produce through the Bwyd Dyfi Hub, arranging local food skills workshops as well facilitating the training of new growers through the Pathways to Farming programme with partners over at Ecodyfi.

Something you might not know about Claire is that she dreams of working on a project converting front lawns into productive growing spaces – “From Lawn to Lunch”!

Sam Grinstead

Sam is passionate about nature friendly farming. He is fascinated by the various ways of producing nutritious food that has benefitted the local environment and provided meaningful employment. Before he got into farming Sam worked as a baker in Bristol and on Vancouver Island. Before that he worked in education research teams - he doesn't regret stepping away from a full-time office job - the value of working outside and with the cycles of the seasons really contributes to his well-being.
Living on Vancouver Island in the Comox Valley allowed Sam to be immersed in a thriving local food ecosystem - made up of a patchwork of small local farms producing nutrient dense food. It was inspirational to see and be a part of a network of farms and small food producers that worked together to provide an amazing array of produce to the residents of the valley.

 
Sam is motivated by meeting new people and learning about the huge number of ways to achieve positive outcomes for nature and biodiversity in our landscapes. He is also learning Welsh at the moment and has great group of classmates that are motivating him to learn!

 
Something you might not know about Sam, is that he once helped set up a cheese dairy in London and tried his hand at being a cheesemonger at farmer's markets in the South of the city. To this day he will happily talk to you for hours about cheese!

Cathie Thurgate

Bwyd Dyfi Hub Coordinator - Staff bio to follow

cathie@aberfoodsurplus.co.uk / contact@bwyddyfihub.co.uk

Lucy McQuillan

Lucy is passionate about wildlife gardening, growing vegetables and fruit and loves to learn about anything to do with growing. Seed saving and producing locally resilient seeds is her latest interest. After being involved in the Eco Dyfi Field Trials project in 2022-23, growing comfrey as a perennial manure, and volunteering with Tyfu Aber, Lucy is very excited about her new role with Aber Food Surplus. By encouraging and supporting more people to be involved in growing food together; enjoying eating locally grown food we can improve people's health and wellbeing and make a step towards moving away from fossil fuels.

Previously Lucy worked for National Parks and Community Projects, for over 25 years, on 8 Inner Hebridean Isles of Scotland, the Lake District and Exmoor - some spectacular places. She now lives in wonderful Aberystwyth, where her partner grew up. She is enjoying tracking down her welsh ancestors, from the Williams and Thomas families, from Fishguard. Learning welsh is one of her priorities and enjoyments in life at present!

Motivations for Lucy right now are knowing that there is a massive decline in biodiversity happening and that the effects of the human caused climate crisis are affecting us right now. She trained to be a Mindfulness in Nature guide, with Nature & Therapy UK in 2019, to facilitate sessions for people to strengthen their connection with the natural world, and enjoy all the benefits of being out in nature - including giving our immune systems a boost!

Something you didn't know about Lucy...she was trying to think of something interesting...! And came up with that when working on the Inner Hebridean Isles she was regularly island hopping by boat to get to work. This once involved travelling from the Isle of Colonsay by boat and being dropped off in the middle of Jura, walking for 2 miles with not a soul to be seen to the only road, catching the twice a day bus to the next ferry and onto the Isle of Islay to attend a Transport Meeting!

Ewan Tennant

Food Action Instigator - Staff bio to follow

ewan@aberfoodsurplus.co.uk