7 reasons to volunteer at NourishHub in 2025; make a meaningful New Year’s resolution 

“Volunteering at Nourish Hub enables me to use my skills to give back to some of the most vulnerable people in the community. Supporting on a regular basis has led to some meaningful conversations with residents and other volunteers.” Amanda, regular kitchen and education course volunteer

Nourish Hub is a community kitchen in Shepherd’s Bush, serving 3-course vegetarian lunches to residents Monday to Friday. All produce used in the kitchen is surplus or rescued, supplied by themselves (UKHarvest) and City Harvest, as well as restaurants and shops. Volunteers make up 75% of the workforce at Nourish Hub. Local resident and kitchen volunteer, Amanda Nicolas, shares why she recommends getting involved:  

7. See immediate impact

Whether it’s chopping vegetables, making pots of coffee, or serving lunch from the hatch, everything volunteers do directly feeds into making nutritious food and a welcoming space for the community. Every shift volunteering enables people to come together – asylum seekers, parents with babies, council workers, elderly people, office workers – to be part of the local community over a hot, low-cost lunch or cookery class. 

6. Be part of the food waste solution 

Nourish Hub uses surplus and rescued food, which is then turned into 100+ nutritious meals daily. Produce that would have been ploughed back into the field, buried in landfill or burned, is sorted, washed, cut, cooked and made delicious. This community kitchen as well as several cookery classes, helps to claw back some of the 9.5 millions tonnes of food that the UK wastes every year, and being part of that process feels empowering.       

5. Build social connections locally 

Being connected to a community is shown to strengthen mental and physical health. As a community space, you’ll often see the same faces at Nourish Hub, whether it’s residents, staff or volunteers. The hub’s long tables encourage social eating, bringing people together, facilitating friendships and a sense of belonging.   

4. Learn new skills 

Discovering new flavour pairings, trying out spices for the first time, mixing pickling juice, baking cakes at scale, balancing the nutrition of dishes for protein and fibre, as well as colour and texture – these are all skills you’ll pick up in the community kitchen and in the NourishEd cookery classes. All cooking experiences here are collaborative, with everyone sharing their skills and knowledge from a range of cultural backgrounds and experiences.  

3. Get to know seasonal produce 

With so much of Nourish Hub’s produce coming from UK farms, you’ll quickly learn what’s in season (and therefore tasting at its best and lower in cost). It’s a fun, creative culinary challenge coming up with new and interesting ways to use seasonal produce. You’ll find yourself grating courgettes into salads and cakes, pickling radishes and cucumbers, and pureeing squash and pumpkin.   

2. Think flexibly 

Working with only the ingredients available can feel reminiscent of the old TV programme Ready, Steady, Cook! And yet cakes can be made without eggs, soups made creamier with rice, cooking oil used instead of butter, and molasses added to white sugar to imitate brown sugar. Practising flexible thinking helps us to take ownership of what we can control and accept what we can’t. Volunteering at Nourish Hub prompts problem solving in innovative ways.  

1. Feel joy 

Being generous with your time is shown to bring about increased levels of happiness, as well as creating an additional sense of purpose. By volunteering to tackle food insecurity you’re making a difference in the lives of a large number of people, enabling a positive and nourishing experience.  

Find out more about volunteering at NourishHub: https://www.nourishhub.org.uk/volunteer/