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A charity aiming to tackle food poverty, loneliness and food waste, is in urgent need of volunteers this summer as its user numbers have surged.

FoodCycle, a nationwide charity which has projects at John Pounds Centre in Portsmouth and St Joseph’s Church in Havant, is desperate to fill almost 4,000 empty volunteer slots across its network.

The charity which serves up free community meals every week using surplus food currently has 73 projects across England and Wales. So far in 2023, they have served nearly 60,000 community meals and saved 112 tonnes of perfectly good food that would otherwise have been binned.

FoodCycle head of programmes, Sophie Tebbetts says: “Every summer we see a decline in volunteer sign-ups due to many reasons – from students returning home to parents having less time during the holidays. This year, 3,947 volunteer slots need to be filled between now and September – made more urgent by the cost-of-living crisis which has helped to see a 59 per cent increase in our guest numbers in the last 12 months. By dedicating just a few hours of your time to volunteer with us, you can help a family get access to a cooked, nutritious meal.⁠ Please join us at your local project this summer and help us break the cycle of hunger. Once you witness the immense difference it makes in people’s lives, you won’t regret it!⁠”

FoodCycle volunteer, Bianca, with people attending the session

Volunteer roles at FoodCycle are flexible, open to anyone and do not have a minimum time commitment. Roles are equally inclusive and range from food collection to surplus food coordinators to cooking in the kitchen or hosting our front. Training is provided and volunteers are invited to carve out their own niche from master chef to tea-maker to washer-up to veg chopper. Those that love to lead, can even train to be a project leader and gain key transferrable management skills.

FoodCycle’s free community meals are open to all, and guests range from low-income families, people affected by homelessness, single people facing loneliness and those who simply cannot afford to buy food. No questions asked, you can just turn up and take a seat.

To sign up as a volunteer or for more information visit foodcycle.org.uk.

Food poverty charity Foodcycle calls for more volunteers after its user numbers surge due to the cost of living crisis