Half of Brits would love to volunteer – but don’t know how to find charities who need help where they live

HALF of Brits would love to volunteer – but don't know how to find local charities that need help.

A study of 2,000 adults revealed a lack of information (22 per cent) and limited awareness of local charities (20 per cent) are the main reasons holding 52 per cent back.

Those who are prepared to volunteer are typically willing to give an average of five hours of their time a month.

However, 51 per cent don’t know if there is a volunteer-led community kitchen in their area.

By comparison, 86 per cent could identify where their nearest fast-rood restaurant was.

The research was commissioned by KFC and food redistribution charity FareShare to launch their ‘Bucket Bike’, to raise awareness of the need for volunteers.

And the pedal bikes which are being trialled in Brighton, East Sussex, will see volunteers transport donations from the fast-food brand to the charities’ kitchens.

Jenny Packwood from the fast-food chain said: "It’s great to see how much people want to give back - but we need to do more to tackle low awareness of local charities.

“By bigging up the bucket bike, we want remove the awareness barrier and shine a light on the tireless work of local volunteers who transport our chicken restaurant to community kitchen.”

Despite 31 per cent being able to confidently locate their local food bank, and 26 per cent their local animal welfare charity, just one in 10 could pinpoint where a community kitchen is.

However, a third (32 per cent) would volunteer if there was one locally according to the OnePoll.com data.

The campaign forms part of KFC’s ongoing partnership with FareShare in which the fried chicken chain recently hit the milestone of providing one million meals donated and redistributed to those in need.

Using donated chicken, the community kitchens operate as a local support hub for those facing food insecurity, offering hot meals or food parcels for people to enjoy at home.

Dan Slatter, chief executive officer at FareShare Sussex & Surrey said: “Volunteering is such a wonderful thing to do, aside from the enormous practical help to our operation, there are huge benefits to combating isolation and improving physical and mental health.

“Shining a light on food insecurity and the benefits of community cooking through this partnership.

“We hope that by spot lighting the wonderful work of our volunteers, more people will be inspired to take action and help their local community."

Volunteer ‘bucket bike’ delivery cyclist Adam Hall added: “Whilst volunteering I have been amazed by both the amount of people who benefit from the food redistributed and the generosity of people who have surplus food to give.

“I have lived in Brighton for 10 years and always thought I knew the area really well.

“However, since volunteering my eyes have opened to how many community kitchens, food banks and other care providers there are, right on my doorstep, that I had no idea about.”