Charity calls on West Midlands residents to feed those in need after struggle to fill 10,000 summer volunteering slots
A charity tackling hunger, loneliness, and food waste by providing free three-course community meals for those in need, is appealing for urgent help from West Midlands residents.
Community dining charity FoodCycle said it needs to fill almost 10,000 volunteering slots to keep weekly community meals going at more than 100 locations nationally this summer, including projects in Wolverhampton, Dudley, Walsall and Birmingham.
FoodCycle runs 12 community meals across West Midlands, with volunteers last year serving more than 16,340 community meals, and saving more than 32 tonnes of surplus food from going to waste.
These include seven different locations across Birmingham, Tuesdays at 1pm at St. Francis' Church on Laurel Road in Dudley, and Wednesdays at 5pm at Wesleyan Holiness Church on Merridale Lane in Wolverhampton and 7pm at Green Lane Baptist Church in Walsall.
The charity is encouraging locals to make 2025 a ‘Summer of Peas & Love’, by signing up to volunteer even just once or twice a month.
It said that cooks, servers, and washer-uppers are needed to help alleviate an annual drop in volunteer numbers, as people take holidays, students return home, and parents and grandparents have less free time to offer.
The charity also said that demand for FoodCycle meals has risen by 17 per cent in the last year, as the high cost of living and rising levels of loneliness means many people are in need of free food and company.
All the meals are vegetarian and made using surplus food that would otherwise go to waste.
In 2024, FoodCycle volunteers served more than 163,000 free meals to people nationally, and saved 320 tonnes of surplus food from going to landfill.
FoodCycle CEO Sophie Tebbets said: “Every summer, we see a drop in volunteer numbers, with students heading home, parents and grandparents having less free time, and regular volunteers taking well-earned holidays.
"This summer the need is greater than ever, with almost 10,000 volunteer sessions to fill nationally.
“At the same time, demand for our meals continues to rise. We know what a huge difference our community meals make, alleviating hunger, loneliness and food waste, while boosting mental wellbeing and building stronger communities.
"It’s shocking that three-quarters of the guests we surveyed last year said they couldn’t afford to buy the food they need and around four in ten don’t have access to an oven.
“That’s why we’re asking people to make this a ‘Summer of Peas & Love’ by signing up to volunteer.
"Even just once a month can help someone in your community enjoy a hot, nutritious meal in a welcoming space.
"Please join us at your local project this summer. Once you see the difference it makes, you won’t regret it.”
