A food charity has opened a second Cardiff hub due to an increased demand for hot meals that has left its first project “full” most weeks. FoodCycle, a food charity that provides free weekly hot meals, opened its Ely project in the Dusty Forge last week as the cost-of-living crisis continues to impact the lives of people in Cardiff.
The Ely project is the fourth hub the charity has opened in Wales in 18 months. It is the second in Cardiff, alongside the Riverside hub which hosts community meals every Wednesday at the Wyndam Street Centre.
Suzanne Waring, the charity’s regional manager, said: “We have seen demand increase over the past few months. The Riverside project is full most weeks now and so we thought opening one in another area of Cardiff, we'll be able to provide our services to more people. The past few months, we've particularly noticed a lot of people cannot afford to buy the food they need.”
Read more: The Cardiff food charity giving out free weekly hot meals to help in cost of living crisis
The new hub will be serving free three-course meals every Monday night with a ‘no questions asked’ policy so that anybody who needs to access a hot meal can do so. According to Suzanne, the project is also “unconditional” so that people dealing with loneliness can come to a community meal.
“We want to connect communities,” she said. As people worry about their financial situation during the cost-of-living crisis, Suzanne thinks the FoodCycle projects are “really making an impact on their lives”.
One of those working behind the scenes to help those who benefit from FoodCycle's work is Alex. He's been volunteering at the charity since 2019 after he found out about them at a student fair. The medical researcher now living in Cardiff said: “You turn up, create a three-course meal from surplus food that you’ve saved from landfill and then you get to see people in front of you enjoying the food you’ve cooked and having a laugh with others around the table. I love that about FoodCycle, its incredible.”
FoodCycle uses surplus food to create hot weekly community meals. It saves food from going to waste by collecting donations from supermarkets and small independent shops. If there is any waste leftover at the end of meals, FoodCycle can give small bags of ingredients out to prevent the food from going to waste.
The charity also only serves vegetarian meals so that it is accessible to everyone. FoodCycle chose Ely to set up its second Cardiff project as it already has a good community base. Ely was also chosen as the charity thought it would be a good area for volunteers.
The project is in “urgent” need of volunteers, according to a spokesperson, and it is looking for people who can volunteer their time to help serve meals, cook and collect food to use. A spokesperson said: “Without volunteers, FoodCycle cannot provide a vital service to the community who have come to rely on the chance to sit down to a free, three-course meal every week.”
To find out more about the FoodCycle Ely project, click here.
Read next:
I went to one of the only Greggs outlets in Wales where food is less than half price
DWP announces date millions will start receiving £301 cost of living payment
