FoodCycle Newsflash
March 2013
In the excitement of the long Easter weekend we’re afraid this newsletter comes a tad late – sorry folks. On the plus side it’s now gloriously sunny outside (well, it is here...!), and we’ve lots of exciting things to update you on from what was a busy busy March. Read on!
FoodCycle hits the big time!
We’ve hit the screen and the airwaves this month! Our Hub Programme and Community Cafe were both showcased on the BBC in March as part of Comic Relief.
First up we had a visit from Sara Cox and BBC Radio 1 who spoke with service users and volunteers at our Islington Hub, which works with the local MIND centre to provide healthy meals for people affected by mental health issues in Islington. You can listen to that clip HERE!
Next up we had a visit from star chef Tom Aikens and the BBC’s Great British Menu to our Pie in the Sky Community Café in Bromley-by-Bow, where we support volunteers to develop the skills and confidence needed to get jobs. Tom spoke with some of our wonderful volunteers who kindly helped him to build a prop for his dish and they picked up some super kitchen tips in the process! You can catch it on iPlayer HERE – we’re featured from around the 12-minute mark.
A Feaster Feast!
A big thanks to everyone who came along to our pop-up event with Love Food Hate Waste and Valentine Warner last Thursday! It was a roaring success with lots of money raised for FoodCycle. Thanks to Valentine Warner, who created our starter - a delicious beetroot with ravigote sauce - and to our very own catering team, who made the rest of our wonderful dishes including stuffed onions and a sublime dessert of poached pears. We’ll have some recipes up on our blog soon so keep an eye out and we've got photos up HERE.
We're expanding! Could you be involved...?
Earlier this year we received funding through Nesta's Innovation in Giving fund to support the expansion of our model to towns and cities across the UK. As part of this, we’ll be piloting growing new Hubs across the UK through a social franchising approach and we'd love to speak to organisations that would be interested in partnering with us. If you're interested in running a Hub and would like to discuss this further please contact our Head of Programmes, Kieran Daly by emailing kieran@foodcycle.org.uk.
FoodCycle Round-Up
In other news from our Hubs across the UK this month:
- See our Bath Hub in action on ITV West, doing amazing things by turning surplus food into tasty meals!
- Our LSE Hub have been featured in Malaysian newspaper, New Straits Times. Read about their work providing healthy meals for service users at the Holy Cross Centre Trust including homeless people, people affected by mental ill health and refugees and asylum seekers.
- Well done to our Islington Hub for their amazing fundraiser ‘Dig In’, a pop-up restaurant using surplus ingredients, cooked into a majestic feast by Julie Friend!
- Why do people volunteer with FoodCycle? Here’s why! – check out this awesome video made by one of our volunteers!
Finally - fancy a vermouth-tasting workshop in aid of FoodCycle? Well the kind folks at Mele e Pere have an evening perfect for you! Check it out and please do come along.
That’s all for this (well, last…) month FoodCyclers – hope you had a great long weekend and let’s hope for the onset of spring someday soon!