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With food poverty on the rise in the UK, many more people are turning to food banks and looking for food charities to help feed themselves and their families.
There are lots of charities and organisations providing access to free food. At FoodCycle, we’re committed to helping people who are hungry or lonely get a delicious, nutritious three-course meal once a week; cooked and served for them by volunteers who also offer company and good conversation.
Our weekly community dining service not only provides free food to anyone that needs it. It also helps reduce loneliness and tackles reduce food waste by using surplus food – food which is fine to eat, but can’t be sold by the retailer.
To find out more about FoodCycle, and how you can find a free meal near you:
To visit a food bank, you usually need to be referred, and get a food voucher. Food banks work with doctors, social workers, health visitors and Citizens Advice to refer you to a food bank if they think you need free food. They will ask for some basic information about you to help them understand why you need support, and to make sure you get the right free food.
Find a Food Bank – The Trussell Trust
Find a Food Bank — Bankuet ®
Independent food banks map – Independent Food Aid Network UK
If you, or someone you know, is homeless or struggling to eat or access food, there are soup kitchens across the UK which offer free meals.
There isn’t a complete UK database of soup kitchens, as most of them are independent, but you can usually search in your area to find one. You can also try asking at your local community centre, church or at Citizens Advice.
To visit a FoodCycle community meal, you don’t need a voucher or any kind of referral. You can just turn up, sit down and enjoy tasty, hot, free food with other people from your community.
Perhaps you’re just in need of some friendly conversation, or would like to have a meal cooked for you. Whatever your reason, you’ll find a warm welcome.
One of the simplest ways to donate food to charity is to donate food to food banks. is one of the UK’s biggest free food networks and over 90% of the food they distribute is donated by the public.
There are many other charity food banks in the UK, and you’ll often find a box in your local supermarket where you can donate food (they usually have a list on the box telling you what they need that week).
The type of food that you can donate to charity food banks will depend on their service, it’s usually things like cereals, soup, pasta, rice or other tinned goods.
There are many homeless shelters around the UK, so there are far too many options for donating food to homeless shelters to list here.
The most important thing to remember is that different shelters will have different needs and rules on what they can accept (usually linked to food safety rules).
Some shelters will operate soup kitchens, and may only operate on certain days.
They best thing to do if you want to donate food to a homeless shelter, or volunteer to help, is to contact your local shelter and talk to them about the ways in which you can help.
If you’d like to help FoodCycle provide free food for people in your local area, the best way to do that is to sign up to be a volunteer. We have a variety of roles from surplus food collection, cooking, hosting or even helping out with our social media – take a look at our volunteering opportunities below.
We are only able to accept food donations from supermarkets, small independent grocery shops and markets – unlike food banks, we can’t accept food donations from members of the public.
Join our FoodCycle community in the best way for you.
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🎉 A huge well done to FoodCycle Hartlepool for their very first themed night! 🎉
The evening was a fantastic success, thanks to the amazing effort of the Hartlepool volunteers who went above and beyond to make it extra special. Decorations, table snacks, and thoughtful touches helped create a brilliant atmosphere for their guests. 💛
A big thank you to their regular volunteer from Quorn for the fantastic donation of Quorn burgers, which were a real hit. 🍔
And a huge shout out to Morrisons Hartlepool for their incredible support. Their donations of cookies and dips made the meal even more memorable and will continue to help with future meals too. 🍪✨
It is wonderful to see the Hartlepool team showing the power of community spirit through food and friendship.
Don`t forget to tag us in all your posts, we love to see what our projects are creating for their communities.
#hartlepool #foodcycle #morrisons #quorn
Help us make a difference!
We would love it if you could nominate FoodCycle for a Movement for Good Health and Wellbeing Award. It only takes a minute and could help us support even more communities with free, nutritious meals.
Nominations close on 4th May – nominate us here: https://health.movementforgood.com/index.php?cn=1134423&ct=health#nominateACharity
Thank you for your support! 💚
@benefactgroup #Healthandwellbeing #foodcycle #community #socialgood #movementforgood
We were absolutely delighted to be selected as one of 20 charities supported by Overbury’s 2025 Charity Quiz.
Held at Westminster Park Plaza in February, the event brought together 100 teams from across the construction industry, raising an incredible £500,000 for charity through an evening of quiz rounds, connection and generosity.
A huge thank you to Overbury and all the event sponsors for their fantastic support.
And a special shout out to Rebecca Bradshaw, Overbury staff member and dedicated FoodCycle volunteer, for nominating us – we’re so grateful.
@overburyplc
Less than 24 hours to double your impact.
There’s still time to donate through the Big Give Green Match Fund and have your gift matched pound for pound.
We have just over £800 left to raise to unlock all of our match funding. Every donation will be matched while funds are available – meaning double the meals and double the impact for the people we support.
Many of our guests are struggling with the cost of living, with 75% finding it difficult to afford food or pay for their housing. Your support can make a real difference.
💚 76% of our guests report eating more fruit and vegetables
💚 83% feel happier after attending a FoodCycle meal
💚 78% feel less lonely
By donating today, you`re helping us do more than just provide food. You are helping us build community, improve wellbeing, and save good food from going to waste.
Donate now and help us reach our target.
Head to the link in the bio!
@biggiveorg #greenprojects #greenmatchfund #foodcycle #fightfoodwaste
🌍💚 It’s a BIG week… The Big Give Green Match Fund is here! 💚🌍
From today until 29th April, every donation to FoodCycle through The Big Give will be DOUBLED, helping us grow our environmental impact through community dining.
By turning surplus food into hot, healthy meals, we’re:
♻️ Tackling food waste
🌱 Cutting carbon emissions
🍽️ Feeding communities in need
In 2024, we saved 320 tonnes of food from waste, stopping 200,000kg of CO2 from entering the atmosphere. Imagine what we can do with YOUR help, doubled.
Donate today and be part of something greener, kinder and more connected.
Link in bio to give.
#donate #causes #giveback #socialgood #environment #biggive #thebiggive #foodcycle
Do you leave a treat out for Father Christmas? Well, the Easter Bunny deserves some love too. 🥕🐰
We think this carrot cake recipe is perfect for Easter weekend.
Did you know you can scale this recipe up or down by changing the number of portions?
Try it yourself via the link in the bio.
Make sure to tag us in any of your baking creations.
#CarrotCake #EasterBunny #EasterReciope #EasterTreat #Cakes #EasterFood #FoodCycle
Double your impact. Fight food waste. Feed communities. 💚
We’re thrilled to be part of The Big Give Green Match Fund, launching next Tuesday!
🌱 From 22nd to 29th April, every pound you donate to FoodCycle through The Big Give will be match-funded.
In partnership with the Environmental Funders Network (EFN), this incredible campaign supports charities tackling urgent environmental issues – and we’re proud to be one of them.
Your donations will help us:
🥦 Rescue surplus food
🍽️ Serve hot, nutritious meals
🤝 Bring communities together
Let’s turn food waste into something wonderful.
🔗 Find out more and get ready to donate via the link in the bio
#TheBigGive #GreenMatchFund #FoodCycle #Sustainable #Comunity #GreenProjects
Not into cooking? No problem!
You can support us and our projects in many ways, and cooking up a storm is just one of them.
You could:
🥕 Collect and deliver surplus food
🥕 Be a host and welcome people
🥕 Fundraise to support our vital work
Of course, you can get involved in the kitchen by cooking, preparing, cleaning up, and everything in between.
Got more questions about volunteering? Head over to the link in the bio
You can also help support us by following us and sharing our posts.
#Volunteer #Community #VolunteerOpportunities #VolunteerRoles #CommunityMeal
Thanks to your energy, compassion and dedication, our 2024 Impact Report is bursting with achievements worth celebrating 👏
Here’s what you helped make happen last year:
🍽️ 162,991 meals served, made from surplus food
🌍 320 tonnes of food saved from waste
💪 Over 8,700 volunteers gave 162,810 hours of their time
🏫 20 new projects launched, including 3 in schools
📈 30% more guests came to share food and conversation
🏆 We were named Charity of the Year – twice!
None of it would be possible without our amazing volunteer community. Whether you cooked, hosted, collected food or cheered us on – you’ve made a real, lasting difference.
Want to see the full impact, read inspiring guest stories and find out what’s next?
👉 Tap the link in bio
#FoodCycle #Sustainable #ImpactReport #Community #CommunityMeals #Landfill
A big shout out to the team at the Reading Project!
One of the guests reached out to offer some lovely words of support.
"Please mention the Reading team. They have not been going long, but they do an amazing job. All the volunteers are friendly and it is a lovely community. Thank you Reading!"
Well done to everyone involved with the Reading Project :-)
#Reading #ReadingCity #ReadingFoodcycle #Foodcycle #CommunityMeal
Registered charity No. 1134423 | Company limited by guarantee no. 7101349
Registered charity No. 1134423
Company limited by guarantee no. 7101349
