A kindhearted grandad is marking 15 years cooking for those in need with community dining charity FoodCycle – as an appeal is launched for more volunteers to feed people across London this summer.
Peter Bradley, 78, first started volunteering with FoodCycle in 2011, helping turn surplus food that would otherwise go to waste into tasty meals, served free to anyone who needs them.
He’s now one of the charity’s longest serving volunteers, regularly leading the cooking team at the FoodCycle Finsbury Park meal, served on Saturday lunchtimes.
It’s among more than 20 weekly FoodCycle meals across London that urgently need more volunteers this summer – including in Barking, Thornton Heath, Tottenham, Woolwich and White City. The charity needs to fill around 2,700 volunteer slots across the city throughout July and August, when there is often a drop in numbers as regular helpers take holidays, or need to look after children.
Peter, a grandfather-of-two and an accountant by trade, is sharing his story in support of FoodCycle’s ‘Summer of Peas and Love’ appeal, calling for more volunteers to offer even a few hours of their time.
It comes as nationally, one in four UK adults report feeling lonely, while 7.5 million people are living in households experiencing food poverty. FoodCycle tackles hunger, loneliness and food waste, bringing people together to share nourishing good food and conversation, at community meals around England and Wales.
A FoodCycle survey of more than 1,760 guests carried out last autumn found 67% can’t afford to buy the food they need, and 67% eat most meals alone.
The findings show FoodCycle’s community meals model works to support people’s wellbeing, with 79% of guests feeling happier after attending; 73% feel less lonely and 75% eat more fruit and vegetables as a result.
Encouraging others to get involved, Peter explained why he keeps coming back to help each week. He said: “FoodCycle has been my passion for 15 years, as probably one of the oldest volunteers, it truly keeps me young. Such lovely volunteers and guests I get inspired working with them. I get such a buzz when volunteering, it keeps me young in mind and spirit.”
He says he feels he’s making a big difference in the community through FoodCycle: “I know our guests get a great pleasure out of it, and they appreciate it. One of the things we aim for at FoodCycle is to give our guests a fine dining experience, so we have flowers on the table, we serve them nice coffee when they arrive, and I think it does make a difference.
“It gives people somewhere that they can feel safe, warm and they make friends as well. It’s really nice how they help each other. It restores one’s faith in humanity.”
Peter first started volunteering at FoodCycle’s weekly community meal in Kilburn. He said: “I loved it from the beginning. I enjoyed that I was working with a lot of young volunteers and I learnt a lot from them. I’ve always enjoyed cooking, since I was about seven. One of the pleasures is the increasing your knowledge of foods from different nationalities. The mix of the volunteers makes it different every week.”
Encouraging others to volunteer, Peter says: “The volunteering process is very easy and one of the good things about FoodCycle is it’s very flexible, so you don’t have to make any big commitments. If you know you’re free you can sign up, and you can choose where to volunteer, so it’s very flexible.
Peter says volunteering has made a big difference to his life, adding: “I’ve learned an awful lot from the other volunteers. I’ve made a lot of friends with the whole team at Finsbury Park, it’s opened a lot of avenues for me.”
Last year FoodCycle volunteers across London and the South East served almost 76,000 meals and saved almost 130 tonnes of surplus food from going to waste.
Anyone over 18 can register to volunteer with FoodCycle – with roles including cooking, hosting, and delivering
surplus food. No experience is needed and full training is provided.
Alix Guerber, FoodCycle’s Area Manager for London and the South East said: “Reaching 15 years of volunteering is an absolutely amazing achievement, and we are so grateful to Peter for his incredible dedication. He’s a truly fabulous volunteer, and we are immensely grateful for all the warmth and energy he has brought to Foodcycle over the last decade and a half.
“Our community meals rely on wonderful people like Peter, and we are in particular need of more people to help, especially over the summer. We have several different roles to choose from – whether you want to cook, serve food and chat with guests, or collect surplus food. We’d love for anyone who is interested to sign up via our website.”
Nationally FoodCycle volunteers served more than 177,000 community meals in 2025, and saved 349 tonnes of surplus food from going to waste. All the meals are vegetarian and made using surplus food that would otherwise go to waste.
FoodCycle CEO Mark Game, said: “Too many people are struggling to afford the food they need, and too many are experiencing loneliness. That’s why FoodCycle’s community meals are more important than ever. Every week our volunteers help create welcoming spaces where people can enjoy nourishing food and company, while ensuring good food doesn’t go to waste.
“We know these meals make a real difference to the guests who join us – but we need more help, as demand remains high all year round. This summer we need to fill more than 8,500 volunteer slots around England and Wales to keep our projects running, including around 2,700 across London. If you can spare a few hours we’d love you to join us and help make a difference in your local community.”
Sign up to volunteer here: https://foodcycle.org.uk/volunteer-london/
You can also donate to support FoodCycle here: https://foodcycle.org.uk/donate/
