Food charity urgently appeals for volunteers in Chelmsford
The FoodCycle charity is asking people to help by serving cooked meals to those in need.
FoodCycle uses food that would otherwise go to waste to nourish local communities.
Submitted by FoodCycle
A charity that aims to make food poverty, loneliness and food waste a thing of the past across Essex, and beyond, is urgently seeking volunteers.
FoodCycle, which offers free food every Thursday evening at Springfield Park Baptist Church in Chelmsford, Essex, needs people with a few hours a week to spare to help nourish the community.
Volunteer roles are open to anyone who has some time to spare and the roles are particularly well-suited to retired individuals in the Chelmsford area.
Sam Disney, East Anglia regional manager said: "Only around three per cent of our FoodCycle volunteers are retired yet we’ve found with the combination of more time at their disposal and a wealth of skills and experience, many of our retirees have become key to the successful running of our projects.
"Volunteering with FoodCycle gives our volunteers the chance to help strengthen communities and also boosts self-confidence, offers new skills and connects them with people from all ages and backgrounds.”
FoodCycle serves up free weekly community meals using food that would otherwise have gone to waste. Across East Anglia, FoodCycle volunteers cooked 119,068 meals, saved almost 33,000 tonnes of surplus food and donated 750 hours in 2021 alone.
However, without the help of their dedicated volunteers, Foodcycle cannot provide a vital service to the community who have come to rely on the chance to sit down to a free, three-course meal every week.
Anne Fleissig, a retired researcher who has been volunteering at FoodCycle Islington since 2016, said: “You learn new skills all the time at FoodCycle simply by cooking together and absorbing ideas.
"I must have gotten more confidence since I started volunteering, because in my past life I would shy away from leading as I’m indecisive but here I’ve learnt that I can lead.
"I’m usually a planner but with FoodCycle you are forced to think on your feet. It also just helps me so much to be with people that are lonely and feel like you are contributing something.”
FoodCycle’s free community meals are open to all and guests include low-income families, people affected by homelessness and those who cannot afford to buy food.
Volunteers do not need any previous cooking experience and there are opportunities available for people to come along and cook, host guests or be involved in collecting the surplus food donations from local suppliers.
To sign up as a volunteer or for more information, visit: https://www.foodcycle.org.uk/get-involved/volunteer/
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