Job title: Food Delivery Services Coordinator

What does your job involve day-to-day?
I plan and coordinate the meals service. It’s a very exciting time with lots of changes and preparation for the new kitchen opening and Sunday service set to expand to run on more days.

How long have you been working at The Food Chain?
Coming up to 2 months now!

What did you do before The Food Chain?
Before I moved to London I had a little business making natural organic skincare products. I used to sell them at festivals during the summer and at other markets during the winter.

What's the best thing about working for The Food Chain?
Working in a place full of lovely people, that really improves people’s outlook and health. Especially as it’s through nutrition as this is something that I’m really interested in.

If you're not in a Food Chain kitchen what's your favourite way to spend a Sunday?
My working week is actually Sunday – Thursday. I spend my Sundays in the kitchens when the meal service is running.

So really Saturdays are my Sundays now and at the moment (and feels like since forever!) I spend my time revising for exams in Biology and Chemistry in preparation for studying Dietetics this September.

When the exams are all over, I’m looking forward to spending time eating nice food with friends and sunny Saturdays in the park, a bit of roller skating and a lot of relaxing!

What's the best meal you've ever had? Who were you with?
I’m very lucky, my fiancée is a bit of a genius in the kitchen and is endlessly cooking delicious meals for me.

Last Christmas we went out for a meal and shared a Chateaubriand steak which is the most amazing cut of beef, literally melts in your mouth! Yum!

Favourite film and why?
Tough one, I always forget films that I’ve seen which can be a bonus really as I can watch them again and again and the end is always a surprise! One film that I really loved is The Endless Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Who would play you in a film about your life?
I can’t decide! Tora says Sienna Miller and I’m happy with that as she’s well fit!

Your wages will be donated to The Food Chain and help raise the money we need to help us make the most of our new kitchen including delivering more meals, more cookery classes and communal eating opportunities.

We are not sure how many places we will have at each festival so will allocate places on a first come first served basis. If you would like to volunteer please email Nuala on NColl@statestreet.com with which dates you are interested in.

No previous experience is necessary but we want smiley, reliable volunteers!

We are looking for volunteers to help at the following events:

Where? Crystal Palace Garden Party
When? Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 June
What commitment? Both days!

Where? Latitude
When? Wednesday 11 July - Monday 16 July
What commitment? All days!
Anything else? Free access to the festival, camping in separate area, food vouchers - hot showers!

Where? London Live - Victoria Park Olympic Events.
When? Every day Friday 27 July - Sunday 12 August
What commitment? Midday to midnight. You can volunteer one day or for two weeks.
Anything else? Don't forget transport may be difficult during the Olympics.

Where? Reading
When? Thursday 23 August - Monday 27 August
What commitment? All days
Anything else? Free access to the festival, camping in separate area, food vouchers - hot showers!

Where? Proms in the Park
When? Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 September
What commitment? One or both days!

The Food Chain, Acorn House, 314-320 Gray's Inn Road, London, WC1X 8DP

Main switchboard: 020 7843 1800
Main fax number: 020 7843 1818

Direct lines
Fundraising (Tina Sloane): 020 7843 1804
Finance and Facilities (Nigel Burch): 020 7843 1806
Food delivery services (Lucy Burnham): 020 7843 1808
Outreach Services (Julia Bell): 020 7843 1809
Volunteering (Tora Pank): 020 7843 1810
Dietetic support and referrals (Damon Nicholls): 020 7843 1814

Our email addresses are the same as before the move.

From 3pm on Thursday 22 March The Food Chain office will not have access to emails or phonelines. The usual on call system will be in place over the weekend for inquiries which need to be dealt with immediately relating to service.

Normal service will resume from Monday 26 March 2012 our new contact details will be:

Address

The Food Chain
Acorn House
314-320 Grays Inn Road
LONDON
WC1X 8DP

Telephone

020 7843 1800

Fax

020 7843 1818

Email

info@foodchain.org.uk

Please update your records accordingly.

We have been overwhelmed by the support we have received. Thanks go to our service users, trust supporters, individuals, volunteers and corporate supporters for their kind donations.

Having met our target we can confirm we will be relocating the office on Friday 23rd March. This is an exciting time for our organisation and we really could not have started to implement these ambitious plans without your support - so thank you!

We are still accepting donations restricted towards the kitchen appeal which will help to ensure we are able to create the best possible space to deliver our services.

More about Acorn House

The space will initially allow us to prepare the meals currently delivered from Highbury, deliver our Eating Positively and Eating Together services and house the office in the same building. It will also offer us the opportunity to pilot the possibility of delivering meals on more days in the week.

Acorn House offers us a unique opportunity to access our own kitchen seven days a week, relocate the office into the same building and build stronger links with other charities supporting people living with HIV while retaining our independence. The kitchen will allow us to continue to provide meals on Sundays while piloting the possibility of providing meals on other days.

How and why was Acorn House chosen?
Acorn House located on Gray's Inn Road just 200 metres from Kings Cross Station offers us vacant office and restaurant space together with shared training and meeting facilities.

A full feasibility survey was carried out on our behalf in the winter and the space was deemed to best fit our needs against a number of alternatives. Although the kitchen is currently an empty shell, it will offer us some savings over creating a kitchen from scratch, e.g. the kitchen extractor units are in place, whilst giving us flexibility to kit out the space to meet our needs.

Acorn House is owned by the Terrence Higgins Trust which means the rent we pay will go directly to supporting people living with HIV in the UK. Children With AIDS Charity will be taking adjacent office space in Acorn House allowing us to create an accessible hub for HIV services for people living with HIV in London offering complimentary services- while each maintaining our independence as distinct organisations.

How will these plans affect service delivery?

Service delivery will be unaffected by the plans, Highbury volunteers will be asked to relocate to the new premises. Other Sunday kitchens will continue with business as usual. We will begin to run many of the Eating Positively and new Eating Together classes from the new kitchen.

With access to onsite meeting rooms and training facilities, volunteers supporting our work will be able to carry out many duties from the new premises.

Last week, we announced our intention to create a kitchen hub and asked for your support to raise £60,000 to cover our costs of moving and an initial kitchen fit out.

We have been overwhelmed by your response to our appeal. In just one week we raised over £40,000 from volunteers, donors and other friends of The Food Chain– an incredible achievement. Our sincere thanks for everyone who has contributed for their generous support.

This allows us to confirm that we will relocate the office and provisionally intend to move on the 23rd March.

However, we still need to raise £5,000 to reach our target and secure the Kitchen.

We have agreed to extend the appeal and are hoping to raise the remaining £20,000 by Monday 12th March which would enable us to fit out the kitchen in April.

If you have not donated yet and would like to support our appeal, please call us on 020 7 354 0333 or donate online below. All donations - large and small - make a huge difference. We will only be able to make these plans a reality with your help.

More about Acorn House

The space will initially allow us to prepare the meals currently delivered from Highbury, deliver our Eating Positively and Eating Together services and house the office in the same building. It will also offer us the opportunity to pilot the possibility of delivering meals on more days in the week.

Acorn House offers us a unique opportunity to access our own kitchen seven days a week, relocate the office into the same building and build stronger links with other charities supporting people living with HIV while retaining our independence. The kitchen will allow us to continue to provide meals on Sundays while piloting the possibility of providing meals on other days.

How and why was Acorn House chosen?
Acorn House located on Gray's Inn Road just 200 metres from Kings Cross Station offers us vacant office and restaurant space together with shared training and meeting facilities.

A full feasibility survey was carried out on our behalf in the winter and the space was deemed to best fit our needs against a number of alternatives. Although the kitchen is currently an empty shell, it will offer us some savings over creating a kitchen from scratch, e.g. the kitchen extractor units are in place, whilst giving us flexibility to kit out the space to meet our needs.

Acorn House is owned by the Terrence Higgins Trust which means the rent we pay will go directly to supporting people living with HIV in the UK. Children With AIDS Charity will be taking adjacent office space in Acorn House allowing us to create an accessible hub for HIV services for people living with HIV in London offering complimentary services- while each maintaining our independence as distinct organisations.

How will these plans affect service delivery?

Service delivery will be unaffected by the plans, Highbury volunteers will be asked to relocate to the new premises. Other Sunday kitchens will continue with business as usual. We will begin to run many of the Eating Positively and new Eating Together classes from the new kitchen.

With access to onsite meeting rooms and training facilities, volunteers supporting our work will be able to carry out many duties from the new premises.

When will you move?

We are delighted with the response to the campaign and therefore will aim to move offices on the 23rd March.

We hope to begin providing services from the space from April onwards, but this is contingent on raising the remaining £5,000.

To make a donation please call Tina on 020 7354 0333 or visit www.foodchain.org.uk/donating_and_fundraising

To take advantage of this unique opportunity we are looking to raise £60,000 by 1 March.

How we are doing so far, including in-kind and pledges of support:

Acorn House offers us a unique opportunity to access our own kitchen seven days a week, relocate the office into the same building and build stronger links with other charities supporting people living with HIV while retaining our independence. The kitchen will allow us to continue to provide meals on Sundays while piloting the possibility of providing meals on other days.

How and why was Acorn House chosen?
Acorn House located on Gray's Inn Road just 200 metres from Kings Cross Station offers us vacant office and restaurant space together with shared training and meeting facilities.

A full feasibility survey was carried out on our behalf in the winter and the space was deemed to best fit our needs against a number of alternatives. Although the kitchen is currently an empty shell, it will offer us some savings over creating a kitchen from scratch, e.g. the kitchen extractor units are in place, whilst giving us flexibility to kit out the space to meet our needs.

Acorn House is owned by the Terrence Higgins Trust which means the rent we pay will go directly to supporting people living with HIV in the UK. Children With AIDS Charity will be taking adjacent office space in Acorn House allowing us to create an accessible hub for HIV services for people living with HIV in London offering complimentary services- while each maintaining our independence as distinct organisations.

How will these plans affect service delivery?

Service delivery will be unaffected by the plans, Highbury volunteers will be asked to relocate to the new premises. Other Sunday kitchens will continue with business as usual. We will begin to run many of the Eating Positively and new Eating Together classes from the new kitchen.

With access to onsite meeting rooms and training facilities, volunteers supporting our work will be able to carry out many duties from the new premises.

When will you move?

Provided we raise the £60,000 by 1 March allowing us to sign the lease The Food Chain office will move into the space in March and our Highbury kitchen Sunday meals and Eating Positively and Eating Together services will be delivered from Acorn House from April.

To make a donation please call Tina on 020 7354 0333 or visit www.foodchain.org.uk/donating_and_fundraising

Approaching the mid-point of the Responding to Need strategy; the next six months at The Food Chain will be an exciting yet challenging time, particularly for the service delivery team. We are looking for a temporary Food Delivery Services Coordinator to ensure there is no interruption to our meal and grocery services, while the future needs of the organisation are assessed.

The right candidate will demonstrate that s/he has
• the project administration skills to ensure people living with HIV in London continue to receive the food they need,
• the problem solving skills to improve the efficiency of current systems,
• and the enthusiasm to explore new ideas.

The successful applicant must be available to start a six month contract on Monday 12 March.

You can download a full job description here.

To apply send a CV and covering letter demonstrating how you meet the experience, knowledge and competencies in the job description to katie.smith@foodchain.org.uk by 17.00 on 29 February.

Interviews will be held during the week beginning 5 March 2012 and will make a practical assessment.

Nich says: "I have loved working and volunteering for The Food Chain. Its an amazing organization full of inspiring people and I have made some fantastic friends - who I hope will stay in touch!

Over the years the charity has developed to meet the ever changing needs of service users and its been such a wonderful experience to be a small part of it all; The Food Chain is one of those charities that really offers practical support where its most needed and with the love of so many people!

I'm sad to be leaving but also excited that I will be taking up a new job at Resources for Autism in a management support role.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be part of such an amazing organization for so long."

Nich will be leaving at the end of March, volunteers will have a chance to say goodbye at the volunteer thank you party on Wednesday 21 March. Please save the date and details will be sent out to you shortly.

As world athletes gear up for a sporting year in London, why not join them by setting your own fitness (and fundraising) goal?

We still have five places in the Brighton Marathon. The race takes place on Sunday 15th April, along the seafront and cheered on by Brighton's lively crowds.

To sign up for this unique event simply download and complete the application form,available here, and return it with a deposit of £50. There is no minimum fundraising sponsorship, but the deposit is refundable on raising £1,000.

Or if you want to start training a bit more gently The British 10k London Run team will be in for a treat on Sunday 8 July, as acts including Heather Small perform at the events opening ceremony. We ask runners to aim to raise at least £200 if they sign up for this event - which will be easy if you get started now!

To sign up email Tina on fundraising@foodchain.org.uk.

Primary responsibilities:
• The Treasurer is a member of the Management Committee and as such is required to attend monthly meetings to provide expert guidance on financial matters and responsibilities; keeping the Board informed about its financial duties and responsibilities
• Attendance at regular Finance Committee meetings
• To liaise with designated staff about financial matters
• Overseeing, approving and presenting budgets, accounts and financial statements
• Providing transparency for Management Committee around the extent to which financial resources of the organisation meet its present and future needs
• Ensuring that appropriate accounting procedures and controls are in place, including an appropriate reserves policy and investment policy, and ensuring compliance with relevant legislation
• Monitoring the organisation's investment activity and ensuring its consistency with the organisation's aims and objectives, policies and legal responsibilities
• Advising on the financial implications of the organisation's strategic plans
• Ensuring accounts are prepared and audited in the form required by funders and relevant statutory bodies (Charity Commission, Companies House) and that any audit recommendations are implemented

Requirements:
• Financial qualifications and experience (an accountancy qualification is required)
• At least 5 years experience, gained at managerial level in the charitable sector, of management accounting/financial reporting and bookkeeping to trial balance
• Some experience of charity finance, fundraising and pension schemes
• The ability to analyse funding proposals and examine their financial consequences
• The ability to attend regular meetings held in London.

You must be able to commit around 8-10 hours a month to the role and we are looking for a commitment of 3 years.

If you would like to apply for this role, please send a CV and a supporting statement explaining how you meet the criteria to trustees@foodchain.org.uk. The deadline for applications is Monday 12 March and interviews will be held during the week beginning 19th March.

Job title: Training and Volunteer Coordinator

What does your job involve day-to-day? With only 8 members of staff The Food Chain relies heavily on volunteers. My role is looking after volunteers and recruiting new ones as well as coordinating volunteer training needs.

How long have you been working at The Food Chain? Just a week!

What did you do before The Food Chain? I worked for the mental health charity SANE as a Services Coordinator which was great but I wanted a role more focussed on training and working with volunteers.

What's the best thing about working for The Food Chain? It’s all about nutrition and I love food!

What is the most memorable volunteer shift you've done for The Food Chain? Good or Bad! Give me a chance I’ve only been here a week!

What's the best meal you've ever had? Who were you with? My boyfriend used to be a chef and on New Years Eve he cooked a ten course meal for me and some of our friends. It took us 6 hours to get through it all but it was awesome!

If you're not in a Food Chain kitchen what's your favourite way to spend a Sunday? Having a roast with friends. Staying in my pyjamas all day. Playing with my sewing machine. Walking on Hampstead Heath with a coffee. Any of the above!

Favourite film and why? I have quite a short concentration span when it comes to films but Inglourious Basterds was the last film I watched that kept me gripped! Brilliant acting and it has a little bit of everything.

Who would play you in a film about your life? Bill Nighy – he is just so cool and in a lot of films I love. Plus my sister saw him on a train the other day.

This year we have five places in the Brighton Marathon. The race takes place on Sunday 15th April, along the seafront and cheered on by Brighton's lively crowds.

To sign up for this unique event simply download and complete the application form, available here, and return it with a deposit of £50. This is refundable on raising over £1,000.

The British 10k London Run team will also be in for a treat on Sunday 8 July, as acts including Heather Small perform at the events opening ceremony. We ask runners to aim to raise at least £200 if they sign up for this event - which will be easy if you get started now! To sign up email Tina on fundraising@foodchain.org.uk.

On Tuesday 13 December, The Food Chain held its much loved carol concert at St. Paul's Church in Covent Garden which included Sheila Hancock's fantastic reading from 'A Christmas Carol' and Peter Roscrow's, Food Chain Chair, sometimes poorly spelt (!) A to Z of acknowledgements,which can be downloaded here .

As we approach our half a millionth meal delivery on Christmas Day Katie Smith, Programme Development Manager, reflected on a year of change at The Food Chain; you can read her speech here

As per tradition special Christmas hampers were sent to service users this week - including treats for the festive season.

On Sunday we celebrated a successful pilot of Eating Together, communal eating, with a Christmas party. This autumn we worked with Age UK Camden to bring isolated older men living with HIV together to share a meal and learn more about living well with HIV. The Christmas meal took place on Sunday, attended by 44 service users and volunteers. It was a great atmosphere with delicious food and everyone received a gift as well as a Christmas Hamper. Further sessions will be arranged in the New Year thanks to funding from City Bridge Trust.

On Christmas Day we will as usual be delivering a Sunday meal delivery; many thanks to all the volunteers who are giving up time on Christmas Day to support our service users in this way.