Cook for a community meal
A friend has invited you to do this with them.
Cooking for a full dining room alongside a team of volunteers is a different craft from cooking at home, and a sociable one. You turn surplus or donated food into a proper meal that people sit down to share.
ModerateFreeAn afternoonIndoorsWith othersUK and US
How to start
- Find a FoodCycle project or a local food bank meal programme near you.
- Register as a volunteer and complete the short food safety training.
- Sign up for a cooking shift and help serve what you made.
Where to go
We opened these links on 6 October 2026 and found them to be what we say. Dates, places and prices are on the official page, where they stay up to date.
Plan this
Pick a day, or a month, and we will set out how to get ready, step by step, with a date and a reason for each. The hard part of a day out is the timing: the right season, tickets and getting there. The plan watches the calendar for you.
Read next
Cooking for one (or two) without the waste or the boredom
Practical ways to feed yourself well when you cook for one or two: batch-and-freeze, the component approach, freezer and cupboard staples, one-pan meals, a shopping list that actually works, and why eating with others matters.
Toasters, fans and a red vacuum: the Cincinnati volunteers who have mended nearly 1,400 cast-offs
Cincinnati's Tinker Team has restored nearly 1,400 household electronics in a year and a half, with no budget for parts and no experience needed to join. What they fix, why repair is worth learning, and how to find a repair event near you.
More like this
Moderate
Grow food in a community garden
Moderate
Preserve a season's fruit
Moderate
Pass a WSET wine course
Moderate
Brew a batch of your own beer
