FoodCycle Seeks Volunteers for New Reading Community Meal

A charity described as “fantastic” is seeking individuals to volunteer at its community food café, which operates in a “Ready Steady Cook” style. This Thursday, FoodCycle will inaugurate its Reading Community Meal, marking the 100th such weekly gathering nationwide in the UK. Under this initiative, volunteers transform excess food into a three-course meal for members of the local community. Carly Shutes, the head of marketing, indicated that the Reading team requires cooks, individuals for washing pots, and hosts to assist with tasks such as setting tables and serving meals. “It’s really, really easy to volunteer and we have lots of different roles,” she stated. Ms Shutes characterized the program as a “really simple idea,” involving the utilization of food “destined for the bin” and its conversion into a meal for any individual in the local community requiring it. “People come for all different reasons. Some people come for the food, some people actually come for the company,” she remarked. “It’s about creating a restaurant experience for people and just to create a nice space for people to share a meal together.” She explained that devising a meal based on the available ingredients necessitates cooks to “be a bit creative,” though this does not imply that volunteer cooks must possess prior experience; some participate to acquire cooking skills. “So many of our volunteers say they that they learn so much from each other so they will learn different cooking techniques or menus or recipes from different cultures,” she commented. “It’s a real mixture of people that come along and get involved and everyone learns from each other.” The Reading Community Meal is scheduled for Thursday at 18:00 GMT at the South Reading Community Hub, with volunteers requested from approximately 16:00. For updates, you can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.