Celebrating Volunteers, this Volunteers' Week  

Volunteers' Week is an amazing opportunity to celebrate UKHarvest’s nearly 500 strong team of dedicated and passionate volunteers.  

Working with the team of staff, customers and service users every day, our volunteers are the backbone of every single operation, across all the locations of UKHarvest. 

Across the organisation, our volunteers have dedicated 24,434 hours of their time to make sure that anyone needing our support can receive it. 

Liz, Community Outreach and Engagement Manager at UKHarvest leads the delivery of our Community Food Hubs. “UKHarvest’s vital work in reducing food waste and redistributing food to those most in need is made possible by the passion, dedication, and unwavering support of our incredible volunteers, whose commitment to our customers and communities deserves our heartfelt thanks.” 

Donating time is a commitment, and the team at UKHarvest hope that it is as rewarding as possible. At every Community Food Hub, we have a team of between 6-10 volunteers on hand to ensure that we deliver an outstanding service to the community. 

Nourish Hub, in London’s volunteers work daily, in the Hub, to ensure that food is prepared and delivered, NOURISHed courses are supported, the Hub space is cared for and looked after and that incredible meals are cooked using surplus ingredients to making sure the community receives healthy nutritious food, Monday – Friday. 

One of our regular food hub volunteers kindly shared that “I wanted to give something back to the community. Volunteering is really good for me. I’m able to help those that need helping.” 

There are so many reasons why people choose to volunteer. Everyone has their own personal reasons. Many want to give back to their community, while others are looking for connections and to build new relationships. 

Many volunteers have come to UKHarvest because they are experiencing challenges in their lives and are hoping to use the opportunity to gain confidence in a caring and supportive environment. One volunteer kindly told us, following a difficult time in their lives that “I feel very proud that others see what I’m doing and that I’m trying my best to move forward and get better.”   

It is amazing to see the value held for the volunteers by our service users. Their kind, respectful approach to supporting people in the community can make a huge difference to someone’s experiences and to their lives. One food hub user recently shared that she had been anxious about visiting a Community Food Hub, and it took a lot of courage to attend one of our Chichester hubs. She told us that her experience had been really positive  

“The volunteers are so kind and non-judgmental.” 

UKHarvest recently welcomed Sophie in the South and Ruby in London to the team. Both have outstanding experience in the volunteer sector and feel passionate about the work being done by our volunteers at both locations. Sophie said “Our volunteers are absolutely integral to our operations at UKHarvest! Last year (Apr25-Mar26), our volunteers donated over X hours to our operations. Through their efforts, we are tackling food waste and food insecurity across West Sussex, increasing resilience in our local communities. This could not be more important right now, against a backdrop of cost-of-living crisis, the climate crisis and geopolitical instability all affecting food prices. Thank you so much to all our wonderful volunteers and a very Happy Volunteer Week! 

Our Interim COO, Lauren has been able to spend time with our volunteers across all locations, sharing  

“I want to wish all of our volunteers a very happy Volunteers Week. I haven't had a chance to meet nearly enough of you yet, but everyone I have met has been filled with passion for the work that we do and the communities we support. I am so looking forward to meeting our volunteers over the coming weeks and months and hearing from you why you volunteer and how we can make volunteering with us even more fulfilling. You are the reason that we can do what we do and deliver food and food education to so many people. Thank you all from everyone at UKHarvest” 

If you have ever considered volunteering, are passionate about the work we do at UKHarvest and would like to find out more, please visit our website and get in touch today via https://www.ukharvest.org.uk/volunteer or email volunteer@ukharvest.org.uk!