FoodCycle launches 'no questions asked' free meals in Sheffield due to worsening cost of living crisis
A new service has launched in Sheffield offering free three-course meals to help people in tough times.
FoodCycle says its meals are open to all, no questions asked - ‘just turn up and take a seat’.
The charity welcomed 30 people to Broomhall Centre on Broomspring Lane on launch day, with guests including low-income families, people affected by homelessness and those who cannot afford to buy food.
The service operates at 12.30pm every Wednesday and offers ‘great food and conversation’ to diners – and the chance to volunteer for a worthy cause.
The charity says it uses food that otherwise would have gone to waste. It is its third project to open in Yorkshire this year.
Yorkshire and The Humber regional manager, Mathew Milner, said: “We are thrilled to be introducing the magic of FoodCycle to the Sheffield community.
“As the rise in cost-of-living continues to hit people across the country, including parents just coming out of expensive school holidays and the elderly worried about heating homes this winter, our service is more vital than ever.
“We look forward to providing a warm space and a nutritious, three-course meal to anyone in the community who needs it, no questions asked.”
FoodCycle Sheffield Broomhall is appealing for volunteers and says there is no minimum time commitment. Roles include surplus food co-ordinators, cooking, hosting and running projects.
Anne Fleissig, a long-term FoodCycle volunteer, said: “You learn new skills all the time in the FoodCycle kitchens, seeing other people cook and absorbing other people’s ideas.
“I must have gotten more confidence since I started volunteering with FoodCycle, because in my past life I would shy away from leading because I’m indecisive, but it has made me think on the spot.
“The thing I love about FoodCycle is that no two sessions are the same and you’re doing it with a group of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds, completely different to my usual group of friends. But over the years those people, the regular volunteers, have become my friends.“I love to see people eating together, sharing homemade food; and food that would be chucked if we hadn’t saved it and turned it into something delicious.”
