7th April Powering the Food Cycle


On Wednesday night I had a little jolly up to Sutton in Ashfield for my tea.  Not because I had received an invite from one of the flock or even that I had been recommended an exiting new Italian bistro (not sure S in A has those) but rather to go along to FoodCycle beign run at the Magdalene Centre.

FoodCycle is an organisation that aims to connect communities, support mental health, wellbeing and reduce loneliness, nourish the hungry, promote sustainability and inspire change by using food that would be otherwise thrown away by supermarkets to provide a FREE three course meal for anyone who wants to come along to spend an hour enjoying food and fellowship with others.

Pre Covid we were able to provide a regular Friday lunch for up to 80 people but post lockdown whilst we still have the space and the catering kitchen, we no longer have the able bodies with enough 'umph' to restart it again. By linking up with FoodCycle, we are really hoping that will be able to provide the hospitality, the venue and occasional assistance but that they will come along with their own volunteers and literally do everything else (including all the dreaded admin and food hygeine regulations)

It would be such a great way to reach out into our community and meet what are obvious needs and issues, some of which we picked up on last night. The amount of food that just goes to waste from our supermarkets is astonishing. The number of people / families strugging to get a hot meal each day is heartbreaking. The number of people who are lonely and isolated is astounding.

Last night was really great to experience as someone on the recieving end of what FoodCycle can offer (three courses plus a take home goodie bag of food they hadn't used to make the meal all for free) but it would be even better to be part of that experince offering back something to our local community. Fingers crossed we can make that happen.

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