Anouska Newhouse

I’ve been volunteering for the past 14 months for a charity called FoodCycle. They operate at different centres across the country, by using donated surplus food to make a three-course meal which anyone and everyone is welcome to come and eat.

In Leeds, there are currently three centres: one at Harehills, Beeston and Seacroft. The charity aims not only to combat food poverty but also to reduce loneliness at the same time.

New responsibilities

I am a project leader in Beeston and volunteer on the cooking team. The role is a creative one where a team of six of us think of a three-course vegetarian meal to make from donated food and a limited store cupboard, to have ready on the table within an hour and a quarter!

The guests who come to the project are taken care of by the hosting team. One struggle for food banks and soup kitchens is the anonymity of the process, whereby food poverty is alleviated but loneliness is often not. Instead at FoodCycle, the hosting team always makes sure to make guests feel special and important, and the sit-down meal also offers them a chance to talk with new people who they may have otherwise not had the chance to meet.

Everyone is welcome at FoodCycle, and for different people, the meal has a different value. For families, it offers parents a chance to have a night off from cooking for their children and a chance to go out together as a family. For others, due to a change in life circumstances, cooking may have become more difficult, whether due to a lack of resources, or health issues. The meal is a chance to have a full three-course meal, perhaps the only of the week. And for others, the meal is simply a nice opportunity to meet new people and be taken care of for a few hours.

Reasons to volunteer

What made me initially think about volunteering in Leeds was wanting to do something to help people in less fortunate circumstances than I am.

As a university student, I see the effects of the cost of living crisis, but I do not feel them in a way which is comparable to the struggles that so many people go through every day. Wanting to volunteer really stemmed from a desire to do something to help other people who were being hit so much harder by the cost of living crisis. I’m not under any illusions – I do know that the volunteering I do doesn’t change lives, but I think it helps lives, and I believe that there is value in that.

Before volunteering I didn’t think about if the experience would benefit me, or what I would get out of it, I just thought of it as something I could do to help benefit other people. It was a surprise to me, therefore, how much it ended up benefiting me. 

From degree course to three-course meals

The impact volunteering has had on me has been huge. It has improved my mental wellbeing by meeting such wonderful people and feeling like I’m part of a community. It has also felt great to “put words into action”, for want of a better phrase.

It’s been great feeling like I’m consistently doing a little part to make the struggles that people face every day a bit easier, each time I volunteer.

It’s also taught me new skills in the kitchen. As a university student, it’s definitely not a bad skill to know how to be creative and make a three course-meal out of some potatoes, carrots, pasta and tinned tomatoes! 

Gaining inspiration from others

My favourite part of volunteering has been the other amazing volunteers I’ve met and the challenges we’ve overcome together.

One time, about ten minutes into making the soup for a meal, the gas stopped working. Safe to say, it wasn’t easy making a three-course meal for over 30 people with two microwaves and a potato oven! But somehow we made it work, and it was a pretty awesome experience working together with other volunteers who refused to give up on our goal, even when it felt like an insurmountable challenge.

It has been truly inspiring, as a student, to meet other volunteers who balance volunteering with full-time jobs and the everyday demands of life, without complaint. They make me see that however much I do, there is always more that I could be doing to help others.

Advice for future volunteers

To any student who is thinking about volunteering, I would say, go for it! Charities always need more volunteers, and the time you give up will not go unappreciated. 

I think volunteering is also a great way to become more of a part of the community. It can be easy as a university student to sometimes get caught up in the university bubble, but volunteering offers a great chance to break out of that and to meet great, similarly-minded people.

If you are someone who is interested in the non-profit sector, then volunteering offers a great chance to get some experience in that area and is also a learning opportunity.

Sometimes, after a long day or when I’m behind on university work, I’m not in the mood to go to volunteering in the evening, but there’s never been a time where I haven’t enjoyed it, or have ever regretted going.

If you are concerned about balancing volunteering with your other commitments I would ask: can’t you spare a few hours each week? And can you really say that those few hours are going to make more of a difference to you than they would make to the people you would be giving your time to? 

More information about volunteering

Read more student profiles about volunteering
Find out more about volunteering opportunities as a student at Leeds