Companionship and community in food rescue hubs

When two major food rescue organisations, OzHarvest and UKHarvest, saw the growing need to broaden their services into community hubs, they turned to the Goodman Foundation for support.

In Australia, the Foundation’s seed funding helped to launch Refettorio OzHarvest in inner city Sydney, where those experiencing food insecurity can enjoy a warm and nourishing meal. The project is a collaboration with renowned chef, Massimo Bottura, and is part of a global project showing a zero-waste philosophy and feeding those in need with dignity and respect. 

Refettorio OzHarvest has hosted high-profile chef events, fundraisers and neighbourhood dinners, enabling the public to eat in the beautiful restaurant too, with all funds going back to OzHarvest’s work feeding those referred by around 80 local charities. 

On top of Goodman’s investment, including seed funding, our ongoing annual contribution provides around 42, 750 meals to 5,000 guests. Additionally, an OzHarvest-employed social worker is onsite to offer additional support to guests in this safe space. Around 540 hours of critical social service can be attributed to Goodman’s funding this year.

Refettorio OzHarvest keeps finding new ways to support the community by hosting adult nutrition and cooking classes, providing take-away Christmas lunches for the socially isolated and has benefitted from around 5,616 hours of volunteering, including Goodman people.

UKHarvest is on a similar path. In 2022, its community food hubs supported around 50,000 people. While good food items, nutrition education and service referrals are present, many come mainly for companionship in a room that is literally warm – at a time when household heating costs are high. Goodman’s funds are helping to create more community hubs in the UK, with an expansion to areas with a combined population of 30 million.