Project Leader, Hibi Racs, talks about her involvement in FoodCycle and why you should definitely give it a go!
Discovering and volunteering at FoodCycle has been an unforgettable experience. I had been involved in a couple of community food projects before volunteering with FoodCycle, but after I attended my first session at Islington, the first question I asked myself was ‘Why did I not know about this sooner?’.
My sister initially told me about it and thought I might find it interesting. So I had a look around on the website and thought I’d give it a go. Before I knew it, I was volunteering at other projects including Lewisham, LSE and finally Hackney, where I signed up to be a Project Leader, helping run the cooking sessions. I was part of the Project Leader team for about six months.
Being a Project Leader at FoodCycle Hackney was an incredible experience. I learned how to develop and deliver a community kitchen project. This entailed managing resources such as facilities, food supply and working with the community centres. I became more confident managing teams of volunteers running cooking sessions, as well as promoting the project via social media. Last but not least, I enjoyed the challenge of creating three course meals from surplus food and having a fantastic time with the guests and volunteers.
The best thing about volunteering for FoodCycle is knowing that you are making social change by supporting communities and tackling global system inequalities by using surplus food. This spurred me on to develop my own social enterprise, How to Eat for Less, which delivers information services and campaign support to community food projects. FoodCycle is one of the most inclusive no barrier entry community projects I have come across. It welcomes anybody who has a few hours to make a difference. It really felt like a family.
So if you are someone who enjoys giving back, learning new skills and growing both personally and professionally, then being a Project Leader is for you. It doesn’t matter where you are in life. Whether you are looking to do something in particular or just help out, the team will find out what you want to get out of the experience and then make sure you can do something which is right for you. You will be supported at every stage and there are regular meetings to ensure the project is running well. Be a changemaker and sign up today!
Find out more about FoodCycle Hackney and how you can get involved here!
