07/06/2026
💚 Volunteers’ Week 2026 💚
As we reach the home stretch of Volunteers’ Week, and what we hope has been an enjoyable series, we’d like to introduce two of our volunteer directors, Lisa and Vicky.
Newtown Food Surplus is overseen by a team of volunteer directors who work together to ensure the organisation stays true to its mission, serves the public good and complies with the various legal, financial and governance responsibilities that come with running a community organisation.
People often imagine directors spend all their time in meetings. There are certainly a few of those! But the reality is usually very different. Alongside funding applications, policies, emails and planning, you’ll often find directors loading vans, collecting food, making deliveries, helping at foodshares and doing whatever needs doing to keep things moving.
When asked why she volunteers, Lisa’s answer came straight from the heart:
“Because I’m against food waste, to support community wellbeing and to help people in real need. I wish there had been organisations like this when my daughter was small and we were struggling.”
She added:
“It’s very rewarding.”
It’s a powerful reminder that many of us are only a few life events away from needing support ourselves, and why strong community organisations matter.
For Vicky, Newtown Food Surplus began as an environmental project with a simple aim: rescuing good food and stopping it from going to waste.
“When I discovered how much food was being wasted in Newtown, I felt compelled to do something about it. I’m an environmentalist and a humanitarian — I had to act.”
What started as a small idea soon became something much bigger.
“It’s changed my life and become a major part of it. It’s evolved into something far bigger than I ever imagined and I’ve met so many amazing people along the way who have made, and continue to make, this project what it is. It’s been wonderful hearing volunteers describe the group as a family. In our own way, we are. And I love meeting the customers, we chat and I've made even more friends!.”
She added:
“There’s a lot of sad news in the world right now. This project gives me hope for the future. It shows what a group of people who are passionate about something can achieve.”
Whether it’s collecting food, sorting crates, making deliveries, helping at foodshares, writing funding applications or planning for the future, every volunteer plays a part in making Newtown Food Surplus possible.
Later we’ll be sharing one final Volunteers’ Week post, but for now we’d like to say a huge thank you to every volunteer who gives their time, energy and kindness to this project.
💚 Could you be part of the team?
We’re always looking for new volunteers, whether you’d like to help at foodshares, collect food from stores, sort food at the hub, drive, support fundraising or lend other skills. If you’d like to get involved, we’d love to hear from you.
We have all sorts of volunteering opportunities, including:
🚐 Drivers and delivery volunteers
📦 Hub volunteers
🥕 Foodshare volunteers
🏫 School and community deliveries
💻 Behind-the-scenes support
Whether you can spare a few hours a month or a few hours a week, we’d love to hear from you.
Send us a message via Facebook or email [email protected] to find out more.
