Welcome to our New Kitchen! 

We are excited to announce that we have a brand new kitchen at our Chichester HQ, funded by Coast to Capital! Designed to provide cookery classes and turn surplus food into edible delights, this space will help us fight food waste and eliminate hunger. 

Completed in June 2021 and equipped with 4 cooking stations, fridges, freezers, a commercial dishwasher and a blast chiller, it will increase the reach and accessibility of our food redistribution and education programmes. We will cook meals for the community, repackage catering sized food into smaller quantities, host live cookery classes and offer opportunities for our supporters and volunteers. 

“It’s amazing the range of things we will now be able to do. We will be able to get the very best out of the food we rescue and expand our education further than ever before” - Liz Woodsell, COO 

Cook Meals 

With professional chefs, nutritionists and an original outlook, we will transform rescued ingredients into delicious meals that our recipients will love. Not only will this provide enjoyable dishes for those who need it most, but it will also utilize food that can sometimes be difficult to redistribute. Our ready to eat meals will encompass a variety of cuisines and cater for a range of dietary requirements wherever possible. 

Repackage 

Over the last few months, we have repackaged an amazing 13 tonnes of food at the wonderful Aldingbourne Trust who kindly lent us one of their kitchens at The Aldingbourne Country Centre. With our new kitchen we can now bring this operation in-house, increasing the quantity we can process on a weekly basis. Repacking food is vital to turn catering sized ingredients into manageable quantities suitable for the household, including store cupboard essentials such as flour and sugar, tasty treats such as chocolate and marshmallows, and even deliciously different products such as pearl barley and dried prunes.  

Cookery Classes  

We can’t wait to invite the community into our kitchen to take part in our live cookery classes and training sessions. For now, our education sessions will remain online, but participants will be able to see the new space during our live cook-a-longs. 

‘While online sessions have their own advantages, we are super excited to invite communities to learn with us in person. There is something special about eating together, around the same table, we are just waiting to be able to do so safely.’ - Liz Woodsell, COO 

As we expand our operation, we also plan to open our doors to our supporters, hosting a range of themed cookery events. You will learn more about UKHarvest and improve your cookery skills while reducing household food waste. Details will be launched on our website and social media - or sign up to our monthly newsletter to be the first to hear about our plans! 

Tasty Products 

You may have seen our pickled peppers at the Chichester Farmers Market, and we will soon be launching a range of products to sit alongside these. Made in the kitchen and crafted from rescued produce, we look forward to the UKHarvest logo chilling in your fridge. 

Volunteer Opportunities 

With our refurbished spaces, we can now invite volunteers into our community hub providing more opportunities for everyone to get involved with, including cooking, repacking and supporting our education courses. 

Our volunteers have already been so helpful over the last few weeks in getting us up and running in the new space. Rosie, one of our volunteers told us ‘It’s really nice to be back. It’s a light, clean space- very professional’.  

If you’d like to sign up to volunteer with us, click here. Or email volunteer@ukharvest.org.uk if you’ve volunteered with us before.