Charity launches fifth free food project
A CHARITY dedicated to fighting food poverty and loneliness is launching a new free meal project in Newcastle.
FoodCycle aims to reduce food waste by creating nutritious meals using surplus food.
And now they are launching their new project in Benwell, serving up free takeaway meals for those who need them.
FoodCycle Benwell started yesterday and will run every Monday from 7pm-8pm.
The new venture will be the fifth FoodCycle project in the Newcastle and Gateshead area, with other programmes running
in Felling, Byker, Walker and Westgate.
Meals are open to everyone for collection, and service users will not be asked any questions.
The charity said that it cooked 74,073 hot dishes for communities across the country and said 21,231 people had visited their facilities in 2020.
Their research has found that 62% of FoodCycle guests said they relied on the service and simply could not afford to buy food, and 75% of guests said they were lonely.
FoodCycle’s “Check-in and Chat” service will also be available to local residents, helping to combat the rising issue of social isolation.
It launched in April 2020 in
response to the first coronavirus lockdown and has continued throughout the pandemic, with volunteers calling guests for a weekly catch-up and to lend an ear to those who feel lonely.
FoodCycle Benwell is also looking to recruit new volunteers and project leaders.
Flexible volunteer roles without a minimum time commitment are open to anyone and include food collection, surplus food coordinators, cooking, hosting and running projects.
FoodCycle Benwell will be held at Riverside Community Health Project, Carnegie Building, Atkinson Road NE4, 8XS.
More information can be found at www.foodcycle.org.uk