Soup kitchen Volunteering

A soup kitchen is a place where free food is served for people who are homeless or who can’t afford to feed themselves. There are soup kitchens all over the UK and the world, and every day millions of people worldwide rely on them for food.

Soup kitchens are often run by charities, community centres or church communities, and they rely on donations of food from the public and from food retailers, as well as soup kitchen volunteers to cook and serve the food. Although we cook and serve free food, and rely on our amazing volunteers, FoodCycle is different from a soup kitchen.

FoodCycle is about community dining, we invite people to come inside to sit and enjoy a meal in a safe, welcoming space. Week in, week out we provide delicious meals and great conversation, using surplus food which would otherwise go to waste.

Whilst a soup kitchen often serves just that – soup and some bread – at FoodCycle we provided a three-course vegetarian meal, and our hosting volunteers make sure every guest, from every walk of life, feels welcome and has the opportunity not just to enjoy a meal and a conversation in good company.

If you love cooking and want to find a fun way to make a difference in your community why not become a cooking volunteer for one of our Projects?

It doesn’t matter whether you’re an experienced chef or a kitchen novice, you can still volunteer. We’ll train you and you can join a kitchen team making a three-course vegetarian meal once a week using surplus food donated by our local partners.