Gwyn Dewey is a regular guest at the FoodCycle Hull Marfleet and FoodCycle Sheffield Broomhall community meals. The 58-year-old from Withernsea in East Yorkshire, is unable to work and receives income through benefits.
He lives alone, and says before he came to FoodCycle he rarely went out and did not have friends. Gwyn, who lives with schizophrenia managed through medication, says the experience of attending FoodCycle community meals has been ‘lifechanging’.
Initially it took him six months to pluck up the courage to come to his first FoodCycle meal. Now he has made it his mission to visit as many FoodCycle meals as he can, after discovering how beneficial it was for his mental and physical health.
Travelling by train and bus he has now visited several projects around the country, also including: Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Norwich, Ipswich, Leeds Seacroft, Leeds Holbeck, Bradford, Cardiff, and Newport.
He has made many friends and enjoys chatting with FoodCycle volunteers and other guests. His confidence has improved, and he believes his cholesterol levels have reduced through accessing healthier food.
How long have you been coming to FoodCycle?
Since February 2025, so about 10 months now. (as of November 2025)
What brought you to FoodCycle?
I’m 58, I’ve had schizophrenia for about 28 years, so I’m completely off work. I’m on benefits, and I do struggle with money at times. I stumbled on the website and it seemed to appeal to me, that was in about June in 2024. I was a bit scared about coming at first, it took me 6 months to build up the courage to come to FoodCycle.
The first time I came I was quite frightened, but I built up the courage and came, and now I go to lots of different Foodcycle meals around the country. I was getting lonely at home, and this is has opened it out, I look forward to going to FoodCycle every week.
It’s not just the other guests, it’s the staff and volunteers as well, they have been wonderful and you get lots of tips about what to eat too. I’ve made lots of new friends around the country. I ask people at the meals about things to do and see in the area. The locals know where to go!
What were your first impressions of coming to a FoodCycle meal?
I didn’t know what to expect, it’s very scary just to go in a room full of 30 people. I find it difficult in big groups, and if I’m in a real busy room I get real anxious. So I found it difficult on the first one, but then it gets easier, and now I don’t have any problems at all.
I found it to be very helpful, I’ve been to lots of different FoodCycle’s now, and it’s very varied as to the reasons people come. Some people are obviously struggling for money, but there’s quite a lot of people who just go just for the company.
Every time I go to a FoodCycle meal it builds my confidence. I used to stay at my house all the time, and not really go out and socialise, and I found it difficult to make friends. But I’ve found there’s something about sharing a meal with somebody, a free meal, it tends to make people more friendly.
I found it different from other places I’ve been, I used to go to places like pubs, but it’s not the same. I just seem to go on my own and don’t really talk to anybody. So there’s definitely something about the fact that it’s a free meal, and that you can share experiences with people, I really enjoy the social aspect of it.
Has FoodCycle made a difference to your life?
It’s a wonderful thing. It’s been completely life changing for me. I struggle to socialise with people. I didn’t have any friends at all, and now I’ve got loads of friends. If I’m if I’m having a bad week, I look forward to FoodCycle. I know that I can talk to other people when I’m there, and they can share experiences and empathise with you, and share some of that load.
I was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 1999. It robs you of your securities, and it changes your life completely. I manage it with tablets, so I am safe. I tell people about it when I come to FoodCycle, and I’ve found that perhaps my illness isn’t as bad as I thought it was, because people are quite receptive to me.
So it’s been helpful to me in that way, it’s opened my mind. I look forward to going to FoodCycle, and I look forward to meeting new friends when I go to different meals around the country.
I’ve even found health benefits from it. My health trainer said my cholesterol’s gone down, and asked me what the reason was for that, because I do struggle to cook healthy meals, I’m not a very good cook.
Because it’s all real healthy vegetarian meals at FoodCycle, that’s probably why my cholesterol’s come down, because I’m getting healthy meals. The health trainer said keep doing what you’re doing, he prescribed it – he said he’d noticed the difference in me, because I seem to be out outward going, and socialising more.
Also money wise, I save a bit of money not having to cook a meal. There’s all sorts of benefits.
Another aspect I like is that if there is food left at the end of the day they give that out too, so you can take food home with you as they don’t like to waste food. Sometimes there are vegetables left that you can take home too, so that’s really good too.
I like the full package that FoodCycle offers. It’s really, really helpful. It’s not just about the food, or the fact that it’s free. It’s the fact that I make friends and I get to talk to people. It’s probably the main activity that I do during the week now, to go and meet people and talk.
Have you connected with other members of the community through FoodCycle?
Yes! Local people know more about what’s going on in their area. When I go to a FoodCycle, the people who go there also tell you about other opportunities to get meals from other places, so it leads onto other things, because you get talking to people.
The two most regular FoodCycle meals I go to are Hull and Sheffield Broomhall. It takes me about an hour and a half to get to my closest meal at Hull (Marfleet). But I do it because I think it’s worthwhile.
At the community centre where FoodCycle is in Sheffield Broomall, they’ve also got other activities and I’ve joined their walking group. It’s a good way of meeting friends. It’s a neutral place where you can meet and you can have a meal and talk.
I think it’s a wonderful thing that FoodCycle does, and long may it continue. I fully support it.
Are there any meals in particular that you’ve enjoyed?
You get lots of different meals at FoodCycle and I’ve always been happy with all the meals that I’ve had. One of the most unusual meals was glass cellophane noodles, I think it was a Thai dish, and I really enjoyed it, and they, they keep bringing it back every three or four months.
What would you say to anyone else who’s thinking about coming to a FoodCycle meal?
I would say it’s wonderful, just try it and go and meet people. Just give it a go! I think it’s important to try and breakdown the barriers and perceptions about a free meal, and hopefully more people would go.
If people can people could see how it has changed my life, it could open up other people to do the same thing. I think it’s good for lonely people to go too.