Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts using surplus food to create healthy meals

We recently spoke with Emma, who is the Business and Marketing Director at Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts about the great work they are doing to help feed those in need whilst making great use of food donations.

Who are Empty Kitchens, Full Hearts?

The initiative was started on the evening of the first UK lockdown when the founding director, Lewis, suddenly saw a synergy between three pressing concerns - food insecurity, food waste, and the whole hospitality industry being classed as “unskilled” and closed overnight. 

The next day he called a few of his chef friends to start making soup for the local community, and nearly a year later they've provided over 630,000 meals to thousands of clients and worked with over 800 volunteers. In short, Empty Kitchens, Full Heats, takes surplus food and turns it into healthy meals, served free of charge and free of judgment.

Stores and businesses donate their food waste, and then their brigade of volunteers turn it into ‘Day Packs’, containing breakfast/lunch/dinner plus bread and snacks. These are then delivered to those in need across Edinburgh.

Why is the work you do so important?

Our clients range from vulnerable people and those in financial crisis, to fully paid employees who, for one reason or another, are struggling to provide a full and healthy meal for their family. What makes us unique is not expecting people to jump through hoops, we believe that access to nutritious food is a basic human right, and if you’re swallowing your pride and asking for help in 2021 then that’s proof enough for us that you are truly in need."

As the demand for their service continues to grow at an exponential rate, each year will see them provide around 2 million meals. What's more, they've just secured their first permanent premises and been able to employ four members of staff. It's this exponential growth and demands on their services that saw them look to Appogee HR to meet their HR needs.

How has Appogee Leave helped transform your HR operations?

We have used Appogee Leave for many years throughout my corporate life, so when we made the decision to take on employees it was the obvious choice. I love how easy everything is, the UX is so smooth and intuitive, and it’s great to be able to give employees autonomy through employee self-service HR (ESS) to manage their leave rather than have them navigate various HR and line managers. Our team has loved having a clear oversight of their leave, Appogee Leave is fuss-free and allows them to put all of their energy into doing what they love - keeping Edinburgh fed.

What are your hopes for the future?

Our hopes for the next year are to be able to keep up with demand and meet the needs of our clients. Once we have stronger foundations, we would love to be able to show other cities how effective our model is at tackling food waste and food poverty as we firmly believe that this is something that could be replicated everywhere.

HR software for charities and non-profits

At our core, we believe in supporting not-for-profit organisations in achieving their missions. We understand that managing HR processes in not-for-profits can be complex, and we want to help you simplify your tasks and free up more time for your core mission. Our cloud-based HR solutions enable you to:

• Say goodbye to traditional paper-based models for managing employee records and save valuable time on tedious HR admin tasks.
• Simplify recruitment and onboarding processes helping you to focus on recruiting the right people to fit your mission.
• Improve employee engagement, through the company newsfeed. Keep employees engaged and reduce missing out on the latest company news and developments.
• Motivate your employees to succeed and maximise their potential with performance management and provide regular praise using Shoutouts.
• Unlock the full potential of your non-profit organisation with our powerful HR reporting. Helping you to make better and more informed decisions and make the most of your precious resources.
• Ensure compliance of numerous regulations that govern your activities. Our leading HR software helps mitigate the risks of legal and financial repercussions surrounding employment legislation and health and safety standards.

Whether you're a small non-profit or a large one, our HR software provides customisable features to ensure smooth operations every step of the way and achieve your HR goals.

Empower your mission with Appogee HR

Our leading HR software for non-profits and charities will help you automate tasks such as recruiting, employee management, payroll, and regulatory compliance, all while remaining affordable.

Get in touch today and try Appogee HR for yourself free for 14 days, alternatively, book a demo with our friendly HR Transformation team.