Bind has been running for 8 years and is Newcastle’s food waste hub. We are a collection of projects and people that reduce food waste in the city through raising awareness, education and system design. Our primary objective is to engage and inspire as many people as possible to make realistic and sustainable choices. And to collectively reduce avoidable food waste in the city and region.
At Bind we believe that simply redistributing surplus food is not enough alone to tackle the root causes of the food waste challenge, which is why when we intercept food from waste and feed it to people, at the same time we use it as a tool to raise awareness about food waste, engage our community to ask questions about why it exists and encourage them to make small changes to their own practices to help tackle the problem.
Our largest project is Magic Hat, which after many years fundraising and operating pop-up cafes opened Newcastle's first food waste cafe in the City Centre in 2021. The Magic Hat collects food that would otherwise be wasted from around the city, and uses it to prepare a high quality daily changing menu, serving 500+ people per week.
We operate with an affordable pricing structure as we simply believe to tackle food waste we need to be able to engage everyone, across sectors and across communities.
The Magic Hat also operates a weekly hamper delivery scheme, a pay-as-you-feel shop open 4 days per week, an events programme and a free hireable meeting space on days we are closed. We also act as a redistribution hub where our team of 15 staff, and our army of 100 regular volunteers work hard to make sure we use the 1.5-2 tonnes of food waste we collect from around the city each week.
Since 2015 we have operated with a large volunteer team, our volunteer programme is for anyone and everyone. We are proud of the social networks that develop throughout our team of volunteers, which reduces social isolation and encourages conversation, smiles and friendships. We currently have over 100 volunteers who work throughout Bind's projects and represent the richness and diversity of the city.
The Magic Hat's profits go to supporting our other projects in the city such as our eductinoal programme Eat Smart, which has now been delivered in over 20 primary schools across the city.
