Overall GiG Score: 30 based on 19 data points
Finance: 5
Governance: 9
Support: 16
Good reserves management: +3, Strong growth: +2,
Good trustee age range: +3, Dynamic board: +3, Gender balanced board: +3,
Large volunteers +5, Supporters: +11

FOODCYCLE 

Overview

FoodCycle's primary activity is providing nutritious meals for anyone who needs them but it also performs an extremely valuable role in combating loneliness, both through its community eating spaces and from their check-in and chat services.

Their very high reliance on volunteers helps to keep down overheads while their technology allows management to keep closely in touch with activity. They have ambitious plans to open more food outlets and reach over 100 in the next few years, that will be aided by their major corporate partnerships with UK food retailers

Source: Giving is Great

Mission:

Strengthening and nourishing communities by providing healthy meals from surplus food
Analysis by Giving is Great

Positives:

  • This charity has been very successful in attracting volunteers relative to its size
  • The charity has received backing from several prominent grant makers recently
  • Reserves management has been consistently within official guidelines
  • There has been strong growth in spending over the last 5 years
  • There have been no material income shortfalls in recent years
  • The Board appears to be well diversified in terms of age and gender and dynamic in terms of composition

Regulatory & Governance issues to consider:

  • Over half the Board have joined recently
Established: 14 years

www.foodcycle.org.uk

mary@foodcycle.org.uk

02077292775

Charity Commission for England and WalesCompanies HouseTwitterFacebookInstagramYouTube
UN SDGs
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How you can help

Financial Data ?

Income & Spending ?
Sources of Income ?
Y/E Income
£k
Spending
£k
Surplus/
Deficit
Fundraising
Cost £k
Total
Funds £k
Unrestricted
Funds £k
Mths
Rsrvs
Staff Volun-
teers
31/12/22£1,854£1,700£154£225£1,188£5293.7335,458
31/12/21£1,262£1,327£-65£194£1,034£5755.2253,600
31/12/20£1,600£948£652£125£1,099£3614.6194,600
31/12/19?£970£998£-28£156£447£3834.6144,000
31/08/18£599£627£-28£58£375£3136105,000
31/08/17£617£546£71£59£403£3347.390
31/08/16£694£594£100£144£332£2705.5130
31/08/15£584£523£61£96£232£1774.1140
31/08/14£469£490£-21n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/08/13£492£406£86n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/08/12£365£345£20n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/08/11£213£174£38n/an/an/an/an/a0
31/08/10£119£71£47n/an/an/an/an/a0

Financial Ratios
Fundraising Costs/Relevant Income: 12.3%
Fundraising Costs/Total Spending: 13.2%
Senior Staff Costs/Total Spending: 5%
Highest pay band: £60,000-£70,000
Liabilities/Assets: 10%
Liabilities/Income: 7%
Unrestricted Funds/Total Funds: 71%
Reserves/Spending: 3.7 months
Net Current Assets/Spending: 8 months
Quick Ratio: 5.2
Asset Split ?
Comment: Corporate donations have contributed substantially to their growth and the opening of their new food outlets across the UK. This includes several major food retailers that have given them the support they need in growth of delivery

Source: Giving is Great

What it does
  • Economic/Community Development/Employment
  • Education/Training
  • Environment/Conservation/Heritage
  • General Charitable Purposes
Foodcycle support people who are hungry and lonely by serving tasty lunches and dinners each day in towns and cities across the country. Many guests struggle to afford the basics to eat and will eat alone without company or conversation so volunteers are able to serve surplus food cooked in spare kitchen space and keep them connected to the community
Who works here?
  • 33 employees
  • 5,458 volunteers
Who it helps
  • The General Public/Mankind
How it operates
  • Provides advocacy/advice/information
  • Provides services
Where it operates
  • Throughout England,

Who's supporting them? ?

Donations from Grant Makers ?

We have details on the following significant donations. Multi-year donations are allocated to the years for which they are earmarked.

Major supporters in last 5 years
City Bridge Trust£174,800
Rothschild Foundation£120,000
DCMS£79,109
The EQ Foundation£58,000
Garfield Weston Foundation£30,000
Essex Community Foundation£26,457
Specific Donations
Amount When
Months
To be used for
Rothschild Foundation
£15,000 25/09/2023
Funding will support weekly community meals in Aylesbury and High Wycombe, tackling food poverty and loneliness for the next three years.
The Grocers' Charity
£2,000 28/04/2023
to support rising food and energy costs, to provide the local elderly community of Lisson Green and Church Street a free hot three-course meal, a safe, warm space to meet people, a food surplus bag ....more
The EQ Foundation
£18,000 15/04/2023
12
Unrestricted
The Shears Foundation
£5,500 06/04/2023
FoodCycle Newcastle and Gateshead
Rothschild Foundation
£5,000 01/03/2023
Cost of living supplementary grant
Essex Community Foundation
£750 02/02/2023
to support a FoodCycle project in providing free hot meals to help tackle food poverty and loneliness
The EQ Foundation
£5,000 14/12/2022
12
Big Give Pledge
Quartet Community Foundation
£3,000 01/12/2022
To ensure that the group's free weekly community meals, made using surplus food donations, continues to benefit Bristol residents in Easton and Barton Hill.
Quartet Community Foundation
£5,000 20/10/2022
To support projects in Easton and Barton Hill over six months, providing free weekly community meals for local vulnerable people.
Devon Community Foundation
£2,000 20/09/2022
Providing free three course meals to help address food poverty for the vulnerable of Exeter
Essex Community Foundation
£8,500 11/08/2022
to support the annual running costs of the FoodCycle hub in Clacton
Rothschild Foundation
£100,000 08/07/2022
To support FoodCycle’s London Projects, providing community meals for local vulnerable people.
The EQ Foundation
£15,000 15/03/2022
Unrestricted
City Bridge Trust
£174,800 24/02/2022
36
£174,800 over three years (£58,400; £57,500; £58,900) towards a London Area Manager (0.8 FTE) and a London Regional Manager (0.2 FTE) as well as a contribution towards project costs.
Garfield Weston Foundation
£30,000 11/02/2022
Building a National Network of Community Meal Projects
The Shears Foundation
£5,000 26/01/2022
FoodCycle North East
The EQ Foundation
£5,000 15/12/2021
Big Give Pledge
Co-operative Group
£2,224 23/10/2021
We would provide nutritious takeaway meals for vulnerable people every week until we are able to return to our usual community meals. We would also provide a phone befriending service.
Co-operative Group
£2,452 23/10/2021
We would like to provide nutritious takeaway meals for vulnerable people every week until we are able to return to our usual community meals. We will also provide a befriending service.
Essex Community Foundation
£8,707 14/05/2021
to help with the annual running costs of the Foodcycle hub in Clacton in response to the Covid19 pandemic
The EQ Foundation
£15,000 15/03/2021
Unrestricted
Quartet Community Foundation
£4,874 08/12/2020
To support the Cook and Collect takeaway meal service providing food for vulnerable people affected by issues related to COVID-19.
DCMS
£79,109 23/07/2020
"The fund aims to:1) To reduce closures of essential charities that provide essential services to vulnerable groups during the COVID-19 crisis by ensuring they have the financial resources to ....more
CAF
£8,500 09/06/2020
3
Grant to FoodCycle to support the organisation through COVID19
Westminster Foundation
£4,832 08/04/2020
3
Food delivery service (Covid-19)
Essex Community Foundation
£8,500 21/11/2019
11
To help with the annual running costs of the Food Cycle Hub in Clacton
The Dulverton Trust
£10,000 12/06/2019
Establishing FoodCycle projects outside London ? Big Give Christmas Challenge 2019
Co-operative Group
£2,557 19/11/2018
We are moving to new premises as our place is too small and we need additional equipment in order to cater for larger numbers.
The Dulverton Trust
£95,000 25/10/2018
Establishing FoodCycle projects outside London
The Henry Smith Charity
£150,000 12/09/2018
36
towards three years' running costs of a project that works from 25 hubs across the UK to provide healthy and nutritious meals to people in poverty using surplus food
Garfield Weston Foundation
£75,000 03/07/2018
FoodCycle Goes Local
Essex Community Foundation
£8,234 04/10/2017
11
To help with the annual running costs of the Food Cycle Hub in Clacton
City Bridge Trust
£87,000 20/09/2017
24
£87,000 over two further and final years (£43,000; £44,000) for the salary of a f/t London Projects Manager and volunteer training costs.
Co-operative Group
£4,795 04/08/2017
FoodCycle Bristol provides friendship and support for hungry and isolated people by serving free, three-course, communal meals every week.
Co-operative Group
£4,414 04/08/2017
FoodCycle Bloomsbury will empower volunteers to create healthy, three-course, communal meals for those at risk of poverty and isolation.
Quartet Community Foundation
£4,640 01/08/2017
11
To support the overall activities of Foodcycle Bristol providing meals for vulnerable individuals made by volunteers from surplus food stuffs.
Masonic Charitable Foundation
£5,000 01/06/2017
Collects surplus food from shops and restaurants to create meals for disadvantaged and isolated people.
The Dulverton Trust
£30,000 10/06/2015
FoodCycle's Hub Programme outside of London
The Tudor Trust
£90,000 09/12/2014
36
over three years as continuation funding towards the core costs of an organisation that combines volunteers, surplus food and spare kitchen spaces to create meals for people affected by food poverty, ....more
City Bridge Trust
£122,200 25/09/2014
36
£122,200 over three years (£37,600; £38,900; £45,700) for expansion of FoodCycle’s work in London. The grant will contribute to the salaries of the Partnership & Social Franchise Manager, ....more
The Henry Smith Charity
£75,000 13/03/2014
36
towards three years' core costs of a project that uses surplus food to provide healthy and nutritious meals to people in poverty in 14 locations across the UK
Lloyds Bank Foundation for England and Wales
£35,000 28/02/2013
The charity supports those that are long term unemployed in the Bromley by Bow area of Tower Hamlets. They are offering a volunteer and training programme that will help people find employment or ....more
Nesta
£119,075 11/02/2013
Innovation in Giving programme grant to FoodCycle Grant Ref AC00301
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
£5,000 26/06/2012
Towards a new income-generation scheme to create more food hubs across the UK.
The National Lottery Community Fund
£10,000 29/04/2010
12
A project by this Haringey based group to provide volunteering opportunities and encourage people to become healthier. They will run a community cafe, using surplus food from local retailers, ....more
Show more rows

Data sourced from Donors via 360 Giving

How do they operate?

Food Waste Redistribution Projects

Objectives: To nourish those in need within local communities

Intervention period: Ongoing to fit the need of Foodcycle guests

Location: Across the UK

Description: Foodcycle projects are located across the UK and are powered by volunteers serving nutritious vegetarian meals to people in the community at risk of food poverty and social isolation. At each project, volunteers are trained, supported and empowered to collect surplus food and cook it in community kitchen spaces to serve it to vulnerable adults and children. Foodcycle head office provides essential support throughout the year to these projects so they stay on track including the recruitment, induction and training of Project Leaders; liaising with national retailers' head offices to secure surplus food; managing a database of regular volunteers; supporting projects with

....more
Check-in and Chat Service

Objectives: To promote social inclusion and combat loneliness

Intervention period: Ongoing to fit the need of Foodcycle guests

Location: Across the UK

Description: Foodcycle's Check-in and Chat telephone service puts volunteers in contact with isolated guests to combat the isolation they might be feeling. Volunteers call guests weekly to check in, talk and give support

How effective are they?
Outputs
Outcomes
Y/ENumber of Projects runningKg of surplus food reclaimedPeople dining per weekTotal meals served
31/12/202262209,000495,930
31/12/202147191,000455,000
31/12/202042359,0003,423775,644
31/12/201941178,1201,326424,095
See what you could achieve with a donation of: £
How do we calculate this?

Who works here?

  • MARY MCGRATH
    Chief Executive
    Appointed: September 2013
Mary has been in the charity sector for 20+ years and is passionate about building communities and enabling people to connect with each other over good food. She has been CEO of FoodCycle since September 2013, when it was made up of 14 projects.
  • SOPHIE TEBBETTS
    Head of Programmes
    Appointed: December 2016
Sophie has worked for a variety of organisations across the charity sector, from managing large teams of volunteers at British Red Cross to supporting research projects for the International Organisation for Migration in Jordan. Most recently, she ran operations for a small start-up food company called Salad Days based in East London, where she leads the growth of the company, working with companies such as Nike and Uber
  • VICTORIA MEIER
    Head of Fundraising
    Appointed: July 2019
With an extensive background in raising funds for charities large and small, Victoria has a passion for the environment and sustainable food which she is bringing to her fundraising for FoodCycle. She began her career in international development, with roles at Oxfam and Practical Action. She then moved into the environment sector, working at WWF. From there it was a natural progression into the world of farm animal welfare and sustainable food ....more
  • CARLY SHUTES
    Head of Marketing
    Appointed: January 2020
Carly found her passion for communications whilst studying at university and has since held marketing roles across a variety of sectors including travel and tourism, retail and the charity sector

How is it governed?

Trustees (8)
Current Trustees appointed
Gender Split

Age Range of Trustees: 32-58
David has held various senior finance roles in a wide range of industries. He is currently a Finance Director for a large data centre operator. He holds a degree in Economics from The University of Nottingham and an MBA from London Business Schoool. He is also a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.
Pippa is an associate in the Charity and Social Enterprise department of the law firm, Bates Wells Braithwaite, where she advises charities and other not for profit organisations on legal and commercial issues, including governance, fundraising and regulatory compliance. She regularly provides training to trustees and charity employees on legal....more
Stephen joined the Board of Trustees in 2017 and became Chair in 2018. He was initially involved with FoodCycle through providing a pro-bono mentoring programme in 2015 at their head office. He studied Food Science and Chemistry at University and has subsequently been nearly 30 years in the food and food ingredients industry. He currently has his....more
Legal constitution
  • Charitable company registered in England & Wales on 22/02/2010, number: 1134423
  • Registered at Companies House on 10/12/2009, number: 07101349
  • Registered with HMRC for Gift Aid
Policies in force
  • Complaints handling
  • Conflicting interests
  • Paying staff
  • Risk management
  • Safeguarding vulnerable beneficiaries
  • Volunteer management
Main office

Food Cycle
Food Exchange
New Covent Garden Market
LONDON
SW8 5EL

Objectives

THE OBJECTS OF THE CHARITY ARE:1 THE RELIEF OF POVERTY AND THE PRESERVATION AND PROMOTION OF GOOD NUTRITION, GOOD HEALTH AND SOCIAL IMPROVEMENT AMONG PEOPLE WHO ARE SUFFERING FROM SOCIAL, ECONOMIC OR EMOTIONAL DISTRESS;2 THE ADVANCEMENT OF THE EDUCATION OF THE PUBLIC IN RECLAMATION OF WASTE FOOD AND PREPARING HEALTHY FOOD;3 THE PROMOTION AND ENHANCEMENT OF HUMAN HEALTH THROUGH PROVIDING INFORMATION AND ADVICE IN RELATION TO HEALTHY EATING AND NUTRITION;4 THE CONSERVATION, PROTECTION AND IMPROVEMENT OF THE ENVIRONMENT FOR THE PUBLIC BENEFIT BY THE PROMOTION OF REDUCTION OF FOOD WASTE, USE OF RECYCLED FOOD PRODUCTS AND THE USE OF SURPLUS FOOD;5 SUCH OTHER OBJECTS, AS SHALL BE EXCLUSIVELY CHARITABLE BY THE LAW OF ENGLAND AND WALES, AS THE TRUSTEES SHALL DECIDE.

Defined Area of Benefit: UNDEFINED. IN PRACTICE, LOCAL.

Data Sources

Charity Commission for England and Wales
360 Giving
CharityBase

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