Food aid volunteering
Keeping London fed – Volunteers needed
London needs its Lifelines!
Many Londoners are going hungry. London’s food aid organisations need volunteers!
Food aid providers in London provide much-needed support to people struggling to afford food. Currently, it is estimated that there are roughly 300 food banks in London as well as hundreds of other types of food aid providers helping people in need of food.
The need for charitable food aid has seen an increase as a result of rising living costs. A recent survey found that more than half of working families in London used a food bank in the last year.
Food banks and other food aid support organisations continue to feel the pressure. They are struggling to provide enough support to those who desperately need it due to falling donations of food and money, and a shortage of volunteers. Worryingly, this tends to become even worse over the course of the cold winter months and festive period.
How can I help?
Whether you are new to volunteering or have given your time for years, are able to commit a few days or a few hours a month, your support can make a real difference. You can be a lifeline for London!
Below are some organisations and groups in need of volunteering support. If you can’t find any opportunities in your immediate area please consider extending the search area if you are able to support a little bit further away.

The Felix Project
The Felix Project is London’s leading food redistribution charity, using rescued surplus food to help people in need.
The Felix Project has locations across London and needs your support! After you sign up, you can pick and choose when you’d like to volunteer and how often. Most volunteering shifts with The Felix Project will last 4 hours.
Roles include drivers, warehouse assistants, admin support and kitchen assistants.
Email volunteer@thefelixproject.org to find out more.
To inspire you to get involved, find out more about the amazing work of the Felix Project here!

Trussell Trust
The Trussell Trust supports a network of food banks doing amazing work across the capital, providing emergency food and support to Londoners.
When volunteering for a food bank, you play an important role in ensuring that people facing hardship in London do not go hungry and have access to the help and services they need.
There are a range of roles available, including:
- Food bank centre helpers
- Delivery drivers
- Warehouse operatives
- Administration
To search for current opportunities in your area, please visit the Trussell Trust Website.

City Harvest
City Harvest rescues nutritious food from going to waste and we need your help to get it to those communities who rely on our support.
Volunteer roles are critical to City Harvest’s impact. For every hour you volunteer, City Harvest is able to deliver enough food for 530 meals to our network of London charities, serving 12,300 people in need each week across London. Without the time and support of volunteers, City Harvest simply could not do this!
Roles include: warehouse assistants (unloading deliveries, creating mixed trays of food, quality control; checking & grading fresh food, helping to load vans). Find out more here.

Independent Food Aid Network
The Independent Food Aid Network (IFAN) supports and advocates on behalf of independent food aid providers across the UK, including hundreds of food banks.
You might want to volunteer with your nearest IFAN member organisation listed on IFAN’s map.
You can also contact IFAN directly to find out more: volunteering@foodaidnetwork.org.uk.
IFAN is asking people to write to their local MPs calling for urgent actions to reduce the need for charitable food aid. Click here for their template letter.

Simply Volunteer London
Find a volunteering role here with Simply Volunteer London, the Mayor of London’s volunteering pages.
Search ‘food banks’ to support Londoners most in need of food this winter. Roles vary from sorting and packing donations to delivery and collection drivers.

Volunteer Centres
Volunteer Centres are the ‘go to’ places for volunteering locally.
London’s Volunteer Centres are borough-based and usually work with local residents and organisations. They are a great place to go if you’re looking to volunteer in your local area.
Your local borough might have a food aid network where relevant organisations can share information and work together. Check out this video from Haringey Food Network for one such example of local organisations working together, with vital volunteers, to support local people who need food for their families.

Mutual Aid
Click here to find Mutual Aid groups in your local area.
Alternatively, you can search Google, Facebook or Twitter, or contact your local volunteer centre, Council for Voluntary Services (CVS) or local community/faith groups.

Other ways you can help
Many food aid organisations prefer financial donations as this allows them to be flexible about how they support people. For example, they can distribute shopping vouchers and buy food that is most needed. If you are able to do so, please consider donating.
Click here to find out how you can donate to relevant organisations in London.
Food aid organisations are also calling on people to take action and IFAN have produced this template that you can use to write to your local MP.
Food aid resources
With the help of some of our key food aid partners, we’ve started to compile a set of resources that we hope will be useful for other voluntary, community and faith groups working in charitable food aid. Find out more here.
Share your story
Let’s celebrate the amazing role your volunteers play. Upload your volunteering stories to London’s Lifelines today!
Food aid resources
With the help of our partners, we have compiled a comprehensive list of useful resources to support your work around food aid volunteering.
Partner Hub
We want it to make it as easy as possible for our partners to promote volunteering with London’s Lifelines. That’s why we’ve created a Partner Hub!