Volunteer
Volunteer at Food Works
We are always looking for volunteers in the warehouse, kitchen, farm, market and more. If you have a skill or interest you’d love to explore, or just want to come along and help out, we’d love to hear from you! You could be part of our mission to build a fair food system for all!
To apply to volunteer at Food Works, please complete this application form or send an email to volunteers@thefoodworks.org
See you soon!
Volunteer roles
We offer a variety of roles across our venues. Each role is a bit different so why not try them all out!
Shifts are flexible – you can commit to regular days and times or simply attend when you are available.
Our team are always on hand to help you get the most out of your time volunteering.
Warehouse
Food Works Handsworth is where our warehouse is based and is the heart of the operation. It is open 7 days a week and we have volunteers from 9-3:30pm.
We receive over 10 tonnes of food each week from businesses all over Sheffield.
As a warehouse assistant there are many roles you will get involved with:
- serving customers in the market
- sorting and categorising the food that we intercept
- helping to pack orders for our cafés and customers
Van Driver
As a van driver your role is to collect the surplus food from our partner stores. All stores know about Food Works and know the days that we collect from them.
You will be given a high vis jacket and a phone with a route installed to show you where to go.
The vans are easy to drive, instructions are very clear for where to park and stores are really helpful with collecting.
If you have a full, clean UK drivers licence then we’d love to hear from you.
Cafe
Volunteering at Food Works Sharrow or Food Works Upperthorpe, where our kitchens and cafés are based includes:
- helping to cook meals
- getting creative with the ingredients in both cooking and baking
- serving café customers
- using the tills
- making barista coffees
A great learning experience for anyone who enjoys cooking, working with people and customer service. Full training is provided!
Our Cafes are open Monday – Friday and we have volunteers from 9-3pm.
Farm
Volunteering at the Food Works Farm is a real chance to get involved with creating a hyper-local food system in Sheffield.
Typical tasks include:
- preparing beds for growing
- planting seeds and plug plants
- weeding
- harvesting food and much more
The farm is based at the Green Estate and is making a great contribution to Food Works’ sustainable food growing initiative. It is a great opportunity to pick up gardening skills while growing fruit and vegetables for the community.
Volunteering on the farm happens on Mondays and Thursdays, switching to Tuesday and Thursday in March 2023. In May this will increase to include Sundays.