Volunteer Feature : Food ETC CIC
Bedford based Food etc is looking for more volunteers. Director and founder Julie Clay explains what they do and the sort of people they are looking for.
Food etc provides cookery workshops that help disadvantaged people prepare and enjoy meals together using cheap, tasty, and healthy ingredients.
Never has this been more important with rapidly rising food prices, the UK’s over consumption of ultra processed foods and the health implications that brings for increased risks of diabetes and cancers and lack of opportunities for disadvantaged people to spend time together doing enjoyable, practical and health promoting activities on a budget.
There is rarely a school in Bedford that is not interested in what we can provide. And there are lots of other organisations in and around the town working with adult groups who would like to use our services too. So, we need more volunteers to help us reach more people and spread the word that good, nutritious food doesn’t have to be expensive or take ages to prepare if you know what you are doing.
Could you help us?
You don’t need any formal qualifications, you just need to have:
- A passion for cooking and healthy eating
- Availability to run workshops for 1.5-2 hours plus a bit of prep time before
- Your own transport to get to and from the venue
We will provide:
- All equipment
- Food Hygiene Level 2 online training
- DBS check
- Mentoring and guidance
- Travel expenses
Our volunteers come with a range of experience. We have ex teachers, people who have worked in banks, HR and in the NHS, journalists, marketeers and civil servants. We all bring different things to the Food etc party!
Jennie was the first person to join us as a volunteer, this is what she says is her favourite thing about Food etc: “I love watching the change in the children as we progress through the course. The confidence they gain not just in their cookery skills but also talking to each other, reading recipes, trying things at home is magical. If that’s just in 6 weeks, imagine the long-term effect this is going to have on them.”
While Paula comments: “Although I always cook from scratch, my highest food qualification is ‘O’ level nutrition (that reveals my age) and with no previous experience of working in a classroom, I was hesitant to apply. However, being keen that everyone should have access to healthy affordable food, I gave it a go and found Food Etc to be the perfect fit for me. Hearing a child say they prefer the Food Etc recipe to a takeaway makes me very happy. It has also been a great pleasure to meet the families as well as the other volunteers.”
Maggie is in a minority in our volunteers because she has professional, food related qualifications she says: “I feel passionately about the importance of healthy eating in the prevention of western diseases and obesity, and also enjoyment of meals as a social occasion, especially for connecting families and developing healthy eating habits. I lament the poor representation of cookery lessons in schools and strongly feel that all children should learn to cook as an essential life skill. Children are enthusiastic about cooking when they are given the opportunity. It’s very rewarding to see families tucking into something they haven’t made or tasted before and saying that the homemade is so much nicer than a ready meal!”
If this sounds as if it might be something you’d like to get involved in, please take a look at our website www.foodetc.org.uk or our Facebook/Instagram @food etc Bedford to find out a little more. Then contact me to arrange to meet up to talk about what we do and what you’d like from volunteering by emailing hello@foodetc.org.uk. We look forward to hearing from you and hopefully joining the team soon.
