Food etc’s Team Building Kitchen culinary workshop is a great all-staff team collaborative experience, away from the workplace for a half day. Cook up some really fresh healthy nutritious recipes as a team, then sit round the table to share the meal together.

Watch our Team Building Kitchen video to find out more.

Benefits include:

Great corporate responsibility

It is becoming more and more important for businesses to have a CSR / ESG policy and plan of action. Giving back to communities and your own staff and doing good. A company’s clients will often look to see this in awarding contracts.

Support your community

By commissioning Food etc to deliver this workshop for your team you’ll be supporting our work and help us to grow and reach more disadvantaged people.

Promote your staff wellness

For some staff, they will learn more about food ingredients and benefits for nutrition and well-being, as well as cooking your own meal from scratch. And it’s easy, you don’t have to be able to cook. Food education and a good healthy diet fuels your brain and alertness/energy levels for a good productive day at work.

Promote team building

It’s team building your people will love. We help cook up a great team spirit and build new connections with colleagues who might not normally work together.

Great value

It costs from £500 (plus kitchen venue hire if required) to book your Team Building Kitchen workshop for all your staff for a half day. We provide all ingredients and you eat what you make!

Great social content

It’s great for your marketing and social engagement – it shines a great positive light on your company culture and value and how to look after your staff.

Bedford based Food etc has been shortlisted as a finalist in the National 2026 Smiley Charity Film Awards in the Under £100,000 category.

Their film in partnership with national charity School Food Matters Young Marketeers about bringing veg gardens and cooking to Bedford primary schools was one of almost 500 entries.

A representative from The Smiley Charity Film Awards team said: “The response to this year’s awards has been overwhelming. To be a finalist is a great testament to the enthusiasm of organisations’ supporters and the effectiveness of their work.”

Food etc founder and director Julie Clay said: “This is the first time that we have entered a National Award so to be chosen as a finalist is so exciting for us and proof of what a great job our team does.”

We’ve been looking back at 2025 and couldn’t be prouder of what our team achieved.

All these numbers speak for themselves and 2026 is going to be even bigger and better.

We are delighted that award winning pizzeria Mamma Concetta  has chosen to support our work with every purchase of their La Nettuno pizza.

It comes with tuna, red onion and basil and having sampled it in the interests of research we can confirm it’s 100% delicious!

Mamma Concetta were recently made an affiliated partner of AVPN the governing body of true “VERACE PIZZA NAPOLETANA” the first in Bedfordshire.

We’re entrants in the Smiley Charity Film Awards — and we need YOUR vote! It only takes 10 seconds and could help us win vital recognition for our work.

The video is about our project in partnership with School Food Matters to bring veg gardens and veg cooking to primary school children and their families. Voting takes a few seconds via this link

Votes determine the finalists and then there is a judging panel for the category winners.

It’s the first time we’ve done anything like this and it would help us grow awareness of what we do in bigger ponds of funders and collaborators.

And if you can share the voting link with your contacts through social media or however you prefer to do these things we would be very grateful.

The video was kindly produced for us by Ian Pickering

Our new impact report gives a detailed overview of what we do and why we do it.

Please take a look at it here and let us know what you think

And if you like what you see please share it with anyone you think could be interested.

Designed by Paula Howkins Design

A harmonious partnership is on the menu for one of Bedford’s most historic musical institutions. Bedford Choral Society has chosen Food etc as its charity of the year — and the local organisation is set to benefit from a year of musical fundraising that begins with a spectacular concert at Bedford Corn Exchange on Saturday 22nd November.

The programme features Ode to Saint Cecilia by Elis Pehkonen and Da Vinci Requiem by Cecilia McDowall – two beautiful works that reflect the Society’s rich and varied repertoire, The concert will be accompanied by Bedford Sinfonia who will also be performing The Hebrides Overture by Mendelssohn.

Tickets are available from the Corn Exchange

Founded in 1867, Bedford Choral Society is one of the oldest choirs in the country, with around 130 singers who perform a mix of well loved choral masterpieces and modern works. Each year, members nominate and vote for a local charity to support through concerts and events.

This year, Food etc — a Bedford-based community organisation teaching people how to cook affordable, healthy meals from scratch — struck a chord with members.

“Our member gave an impassioned description of what Food etc does and why it matters to so many facing food challenges locally,” said Carole Bell, Chair of Bedford Choral Society. “It’s wonderful to know our music can make a tangible difference in Bedford.”

The collaboration celebrates two pillars of Bedford’s community life — the power of music and the importance of good food — coming together to make a real local impact.

For further information about Bedford Choral Society please visit www.bedfordchoralsociety.org.uk

The first Building a Healthier Bedford Together event, hosted by Food etc, brought together a wide range of organisations, schools, and individuals committed to addressing food challenges in the community.

Watch a short video about this unique event.

Attendees heard powerful insights from Bedford Foodbank, Livingstone and Cauldwell Primary Schools, The Harpur Trust, and Food etc, who shared the realities facing families in Bedford and the work being done to support them.

The event also highlighted an exciting initiative from Colworth Business Park, which is working with schools to introduce young people to career opportunities in the food and drink industry—helping to inspire the next generation.

Mohammad Yasin MP praised the event, saying:

“I was very pleased to join this event. It brought together lots of people interested in the impact they can make in our community.”

Lucy Bardner, Community Programmes Director at The Harpur Trust, added:

“There are some very committed and creative minds tackling food poverty in Bedford, and it was inspiring to hear about their initiatives, brought together by Food etc. But what we all want to see is a Bedford where our fellow Bedfordians aren’t having to rely on schools and charities to help them eat. Clearly it’s a national problem, but I would love to hear ideas for place-based solutions.”

Deputy Lieutenant of Bedfordshire Alison Bradbury said: “It is always a pleasure to see so many passionate and organised people doing such a lot of good work and this was certainly demonstrated very well in Bedford at this event.”

Julie Clay, Founder and Director of Food etc, said: “It was inspiring to see so many people coming together, interested in working together to make Bedford a healthier place to grow up, live, and work.”

The Building a Healthier Bedford Together initiative marks the beginning of a collaborative effort to ensure healthier futures for all Bedford residents.

Two Bedford-based teams of cyclists competing in Extra Mile, a cycling challenge of more than 500 miles that takes place over 3 days from 19^th September will be raising much needed funds for two good causes with local connections.

75% of what The Spokesmen teams raise will be split between Food etc and AMMF (the UK’s only cholangiocarcinoma charity, dedicated to tackling this devastating bile duct cancer on all fronts).

This long running event has been running since 2003 and this year it will be the “£2m Swiss” Challenge.

The Spokesmen teams comprising Tim O’Leary, Manfred Saenger, Jon Ross, Lawrence O’Leary, Russell Smith, Richard Stidolph and Patrick Brewster have already raised around £40,000 for a range of charities by cycling more than 10,000 miles. They started competing in Extra Mile in 2006, the year that Queen Elizabeth celebrated her 80^th birthday, Daniel Craig made his debut as James Bond and a whale was discovered swimming in the River Thames in London.

Manfred Saenger said: “We are keen to support charities that mean something to us as a team. Food etc is a local organisation supporting local communities and AMMF is looking to reduce the incidence of bile duct cancer, a little known about disease that in the UK alone affects thousands of people annually, with more diagnoses over the last few years.”

Anyone who would like to support teams and these two important causes can go to https://www.peoplesfundraising.com/donation/the-spokesmen-legends-2025

Food etc Founder and Director Julie Clay said: “We are very grateful that this amazing group have selected us to receive part of their fundraising. We wish them all the best for this gruelling challenge and will be with them in spirit if not on saddles!”

The remaining 25% of what the team raises will be shared between the charities supported by the event organisers (the Rotary Clubs of Bedford Park and Milton Keynes Grand Union) which are Citizens Advice Bedford, Willen Hospice and Thames Valley Air Ambulance with all of the gift aid going to the trust funds of the two organising Rotary Clubs.

About Extra Mile Challenge

Extra Mile Challenges was formed as a charity in 2003 by the Rotary Clubs of Bedford Park and Milton Keynes Grand Union to organise cycling events to raise money for various charities.  In the last 22 years, teams taking part have raised almost £2m and this year’s event is set to break that £2m barrier. This year will see 42 teams cycle from Metz to Mulhouse and surrounding areas, taking in parts of France, Luxembourg, the Black Forest and Switzerland.

As part of the School Food Matters Young Marketeers programme in Bedford, children from 6 Bedford primary schools sold produce they’d grown on the market. Raising money for Bedford Foodbank while having a lot of fun and learning all sorts of new skills.

See how much fun they had by watching this short video