Ways to volunteer
Who we are
Founded in 2009, we are a registered charity with a mission to keep good food out of landfill and direct it to people instead. We do this by connecting businesses with surplus food to charities and community organisations that need it. Transactions are simple, quick and bear no cost to our charity partners and take place via our online platform.
Our collaboration with London’s prestigious Borough Market has resulted in daily surplus food collections, enabling high quality, fresh food to reach good causes. In addition to keeping perfectly good food out of landfill, we have redirected tonnes of non-food items to great causes.
We are a small, agile team, which can respond and adapt quickly. To date, we have managed to save 500+ tonnes of food from going into landfill, which is the equivalent of 1+ million meals and over 2,000+ tonnes of CO2 emissions.
Volunteering with Plan Zheroes
We’re always looking for passionate people who want to make a difference in their local community and help us tackle food waste. There are lots of ways to get involved with Plan Zheroes, whether you have a few hours to spare regularly, want to help behind the scenes, or simply want to lend a hand when you can.
Read more about our volunteering opportunities below and choose the one that suits you.
Surplus Food Collections at Borough Market
Help us rescue surplus food from traders at Borough Market and make sure it gets to charities and community groups who can need it most.
When and where do we meet?
- Tuesdays to Saturdays: We meet at the market at 4:45pm
- Sundays We meet at the market at 3:45pm
This is a practical, hands-on role and a great way to meet other volunteers while making a direct difference.
What you’ll be doing:
- Collecting surplus food from Borough Market traders
- Helping to sort, weigh and organise food
- Helping charities collect the food
- Working as part of our friendly volunteer team
Perfect for: Anyone who wants to support surplus food rescue, meet others and make a positive difference in their community.
Cyclist at Borough Market
Do you love cycling and want to combine it with volunteering? We’re looking for cyclists to help us deliver rescued surplus food from Borough Market to local charities who need it. This is a great opportunity to get active, support our food rescue work and help us reduce food waste, all while getting around London by bike.
When and where?
- Tuesdays to Saturdays: We meet at the market at 5:30pm
- Sundays We meet at the market at 4:30pm
What you’ll be doing:
- Collecting and transporting surplus food
- Cycling between Borough Market and collection/drop-off points
- Helping us move food efficiently and safely
- Working alongside our surplus food collection team
Perfect for: Confident cyclists looking for an active volunteering role.
Fundraising
Help us raise the funds we need to keep our work going and reach more people. Our fundraising volunteers can get involved in everything from organising fundraising activities and events to coming up with creative ideas for raising awareness and donations.
What you’ll be doing:
- Supporting fundraising campaigns and events
- Helping organise fundraising activities
- Coming up with new fundraising ideas
- Helping us build relationships with supporters
Perfect for: Creative, enthusiastic people who enjoy bringing people together around a good cause.
Blog and news story writing
Have a way with words? Help us tell the Plan Zheroes story. Our blog is a chance to share stories about food waste, our volunteers, the communities we support and the difference that rescuing surplus food can make.
What you’ll be doing:
- Writing blog posts and news stories
- Interviewing volunteers and supporters
- Sharing stories from our surplus food rescue activities
- Researching food waste and related topics
- Helping create engaging content for our website
Perfect for: Writers, students, storytellers and anyone who enjoys researching and communicating ideas.
Photography & social media
Help us capture and share the impact of Plan Zheroes. From photographing food collections and volunteer activities to creating content for social media, you’ll help us show people what we do and inspire others to get involved.
What you’ll be doing:
- Taking photographs at volunteer activities and events
- Creating content for social media
- Helping tell our stories through photos and videos
Perfect for: Photographers, content creators and anyone with a creative eye.
Ready to join us?
Whether you want to get hands-on rescuing surplus food, put your creative skills to work, help us raise funds, or support us behind the scenes, there’s a place for you at Plan Zheroes.
Get in touch today and tell us which volunteering opportunity you’d like to get involved with.
If you have any questions about volunteering with Plan Zheroes please email info@planzheroes.org.