Woodlands kitchen volunteers, Glasgow.
Woodlands Community Garden and Café secured funding for a community food development worker who focuses on involving, supporting and retaining volunteers. Each person who wishes to volunteer has an optional one-to-one induction with the development worker to understand what they want out of their involvement and what support they might need. The project now has more than 100 volunteers on their list and on average 15 to 20 people help at the community meal every week. Some help with the cooking, others set the tables and clear up while yet others make music during the meal. Each week, volunteers are supported by the development worker and a community food worker, who plans the menu and supervises the kitchen volunteer team. During the week, community members can help out in the community garden that supplies some of the food for the meal. Bridging the Gap’s weekly BIG Thursday drop-in session centres around a shared meal for approximately 60 people each week, prepared by a volunteer from the community. With the help of a volunteer kitchen team that rotates every 6 weeks, the person taking on the role of ‘Head Chef’ that week determines the menu and takes the lead in the kitchen. Staff and volunteers from other initiatives are often surprised with the level of responsibility afforded to volunteers at Bridging the Gap. The project has built confidence in individuals, creates opportunities for people from different cultures to share their favourite dishes with the community and supports a culture of contribution. The Big Thursday drop-in also offers other volunteer roles to community members, including setting up the hall, welcoming people when they arrive, running children’s activities and translating for people where needed. Project staff members are present, and can step in and support where needed, but with volunteers largely responsible for the session, they are able to focus on building relationships.