Volunteer with us
In just over one year, our volunteers have provided one million free meals to people in need across Edinburgh. We'd love it if you could join our community.
As a first step please fill out the sections below. Tell us about your previous work experience, your availability, and how to reach you. You can find more information about our different volunteer roles beneath the form.
Volunteer Application Form
Join the Team
Shift types
We have seven shift types - Packing, Hot Service, Delivery, Admin, Kitchen Porter, Kitchen Assistant, and Cleaning. Everyone is expected to take part in some cleaning and tidying no matter which shift you are on. If you see something that needs to be done, whether cleaned, fixed or tidied away please take initiative and do it.
Packing
Our packing shifts are perhaps the most varied and you can be doing anything from portioning food to labelling allergens, to sanitising crates, cleaning or unloading deliveries.
Hot Service
This is a great opportunity to interact with our clients and see the positive impact our service has in the community. We serve free hot meals to take away from outside Leith Theatre, between 12-1pm and 4.30-5.30pm daily. Our hot service volunteers prepare, set up and serve the lunch and dinner meals as well as cleaning up afterwards and re-stocking.
Delivery - car and bike
A delivery shift will generally contain a minimum of 20 stops depending on your route, method of transport and amount of people volunteering that day.
If you are volunteering as a cyclist/driver, you must have your own bike or car and a
smartphone with internet access as this is how your delivery route is distributed. We also have a van which can be driven by anyone over 25, but only if you have first done a number of delivery shifts so you are familiar with the procedure. You must be comfortable using simple technology such as satnav within Google maps. You will be delivering to a cross-section of society which includes vulnerable adults.
KPs
The KPs support our chefs to free up their time to focus on cooking. It is a popular, fast-paced, shift with LOTS of dish-washing, in a noisy, busy kitchen with great banter from the teams. It also involves cleaning areas of the kitchen including sinks, walls and floors, and anything else that gets dirty. There can be some heavy lifting of big pots, and using an industrial dishwasher. KPs may also assist with basic food preparation such as washing, peeling and chopping vegetables.
Cleaning
The cleaning shift is a nice short, 2-hour shift which is great for anyone who wants to
support us but who doesn’t have a lot of time to give. It involves cleaning in and around the hall, foyer, corridors, laundry and toilets. Our cleaning volunteers are really essential to our operations in allowing us to maintain a hygienic food-handling environment throughout the building.
Admin
Running a community organisation with literally hundreds of volunteers and thousands of clients takes a LOT of administration and office time. From HR to building rotas, to implementing health and safety to internal and external communications, we're always on the look-out for help in our admin teams.
Kitchen Assistant
As well as our chef and KP volunteer positions, we're also running a Kitchen Assistant programme. This is the perfect role for those interested in food and kitchen skills, as participants can gain a Level 2 Food Hygiene Certificate as well as invaluable experience. They will be guided by our professional chefs and learn a variety of skills.