HOW TO RUN A PUMPKIN RESCUE Squashing food waste
W W W. H U B B U B . O R G . U K
# P U M P K I1N R E S C U E
SHARE YOUR EVENT WITH #PUMPKINRESCUE
HELLO We’re a charity that creates environmental campaigns that are positive, playful and inspire people to make healthier, greener lifestyle choices, which more often than not help save money and bring people together. We concentrate on things people are passionate about and are relevant day-to-day, like fashion, food, homes and neighbourhoods. We keep things simple, offering practical and realistic solutions that help people to cut waste, make clothes last longer, save money and create cleaner spaces to live and work in. Thank you for joining the Pumpkin Rescue and helping to squash food waste one pumpkin at a time.
HUBBUB
2
SHARE YOUR EVENT WITH #PUMPKINRESCUE
CONTENTS W H AT A R E T H E Y A R E W H Y RUN ONE
4
PYO PUMPKIN RESCUE
6
FIND YOUR PUMPKIN ARMY
8
GET THE MESSAGE OUT
10
FUNDING AND BUDGETING
11
3
SHARE YOUR EVENT WITH #PUMPKINRESCUE
1
W H AT A R E T H E Y AND WHY RUN ONE A #PumpkinRescue festival is a celebration of food which introduces new skills and carves up Halloween conventions to encourage people to think about the food they throw away. On average we waste a terrifying 18,000 tonnes of pumpkin at Halloween alone, so we use the pumpkin spooky staple as a prop to raise awareness and change behaviours.
stand on reducing food waste. •
The average UK family wastes £60 a month by throwing away food that could’ve been eaten = 4.2 million tonnes in weight.
• •
The water and resources used to grow this food equally goes to waste.
•
Whether you’re a local authority, a food or community group, a school or just a keen individual, join, together we can stop our pumpkins going through a rough patch after Halloween.
Since its launch in Oxford in 2014, Pumpkin Rescue has taken the UK by storm. In 2015 Pumpkin Rescue was taken on by 25 UK towns and even crossed oceans to the USA and Asia. In 2016 there were over 40 community festivals across the UK, and 126 events. So far, Pumpkin Rescue has delivered 199 local events and workshops have been attended by 12,200 people and from which a whopping 17,000 pumpkins have
4
SHARE YOUR EVENT WITH #PUMPKINRESCUE
“The Pumpkin Festival was a smashing collaboration. We involved a great number and mix of local people and the diverse programme had positive repercussions for the local council and for the wallets of householders alike. It was a great event for Oxford and we’re excited that other cities will be able to recreate the model!” Good Food Oxford
5
S H A R E Y O U R E V E N T W5I T H # P U M P K I N R E S C U E
2
PYO PUMPKIN RESCUE Pumpkin Rescue events come in all different shapes and sized, based on how much time and energy you have. It could be a simple dinner with friends to a full-blown festival. Here are some examples of different activities you can do for your PYO Pumpkin Rescue.
6
SHARE YOUR EVENT WITH #PUMPKINRESCUE
PICK YOUR ACTIVITIES •
A launch event that introduces the festival to local media and stakeholders.
•
A mass pumpkin soup – a communal meal that serves up food from surplus ingredients.
•
are dependant on harvests. In
A ‘gleaning’ or food waste collection session – explore local farms or famer’s markets.
•
Cooking lessons – a delicious chance for skills sharing and learning.
•
Hubbub found that gleaning or events based on surplus produce
Composting sessions – get community gardens or allotments in on the action.
•
H AV E A B A C K UP PLAN
A social media campaign – Hubbub will also be running a
2015, the terrible weather struck and the pumpkin harvest was damaged, meaning there were not enough pumpkins to go around.
national campaign that will raise awareness of your events if you let us know about it. •
Pumpkin recipes –check out Hubbub’s online resources for recipes and food photography at www. hubbub.org.uk.
•
‘Ready Steady Cook’ pumpkin or ‘Come Dine With Me’ style events
•
Group pumpkin carving – collect the pumpkin guts to cook and share.
•
A speaker event – draw in local amplifiers and influencers to talk about food waste.
•
Engagement in schools – sow the seed of pumpkin rescue and get kids cooking and growing.
Don’t worry if the programme is in flux for the first months. It’s good to think big and sound out options with collaborators, venues, locals and the council. As long as your aspirations fit the festival message there should be no limit to your Pumpkin Rescue imagination.
DECIDE HOW BIG YOU WANT TO GO The size of your festival will inevitably depend upon your resources. Our advice would be ‘don’t bite off more than you can chew’ (also a key part of the food waste reduction message), but be crafty with your programming. The Pumpkin Rescue message complements the harvest season and can be combined with saving and preserving food in the face of a seasonal glut.
C H O O S E Y O U R L O C AT I O N The festival lends itself to multiple sites, but spreading the festival means that you’ll need to advertise broadly and clearly. If you have a specific target audience in mind make sure the events are accessible to this group. A few things to consider: •
Hire costs
•
Food and beverage licencing
•
Parking
•
Recycling facilities
•
Food waste disposal facilities
•
Capacity
•
Aesthetics
•
Local transport links
•
Wet weather plan
•
Can you decorate the space?
•
Disabled access
•
Water/electricity supply
7
SHARE YOUR EVENT WITH #PUMPKINRESCUE
3
FIND YOUR PUMPKIN ARMY Appoint a project lead and be realistic about hours. Bring on support from volunteers and explore collaborations with local groups and businesses who want to achieve similar aims so you can achieve scale and reach with existing networks. Here are some suggestions on how to get others on gourd with you.
S E E K C O L L A B O R AT O R S A Pumpkin Rescue lends itself well to collaboration because it provides the opportunity for organisations to create their own events and input into the overarching festival. For example one group may wish to run a composting work shop, while another may want to hold a talk on the issues surrounding food waste or food poverty in the UK. 1. Who in the area needs to know about the event? (Local council, community groups). 2. Who might want to know about the event? (Youth groups, community markets, local producers). 3. Is anyone locally already working on similar issues? 4. Who can amplify the impact of your festival? (Local press, local MPs or Councillors, anyone with social media clout).
8
SHARE YOUR EVENT WITH #PUMPKINRESCUE
To attract volunteers, provide a summary of the event and highlight what’s in it for the volunteers (fun, experience, meeting new people, free food). Estimate the minimum time you expect of them, dates, timings and other factors to help volunteers make a quick decision. Ask them to send you a little information about their interests, experience, mobile phone number (for the day) and email
GET A VOLUNTEER W H AT S A P P GROUP ON THE GO FOR THE EVENT
address. Make sure you set up a trusty Excel spreadsheet and hold on to all of their details. Getting an idea of the volunteer’s interests should help you to determine who’ll be suited to which task. Try and flesh out in advance what you will need in terms of manpower. Will you also have van power? If not, think about hiring one now.
9
SHARE YOUR EVENT WITH #PUMPKINRESCUE
4
GET THE MESSAGE OUT Any events or activities that come under the Pumpkin Rescue umbrella should fit in with the fun, collaborative and community based messaging which encourages the reduction of food waste and the growing of skills. Hubbub can provide templates for everything from social media posts and banners, to event posters, logos, recipe cards and programme schedules. Despite the tangents that individual events may go off on, all communications need to have the same starting point and designed materials need to have a common imagery.
SYNCING YOUR MESSAGING If you’re collaborating with a number of groups you may want to hold an event messaging session so you can all agree your key messages and align your communications. A few further tips on linking up with the wider campaign so you can increase your reach: 1. Use the hashtag and tagline that has worked well at past events: ‘Let’s squash food waste, #PumpkinRescue’. 2. Have a strong narrative which tells the story behind the event. No doubt you’ll have your own. You can get a sense of ours here. 3. Have catchy names for your events and headlines: keep it short, use humour (and slip in the odd pun, but watch out it’s addictive) and think about what’s in it for your audience? Above all, make sure your messaging is positive and upbeat!
GET PRINTING D O N E I N L AT E SEPTEMBER SO YOU CAN C I R C U L AT E I N OCTOBER
10
SHARE YOUR EVENT WITH #PUMPKINRESCUE
5
FUNDING AND BUDGETING Finding funding can be daunting, but it shouldn’t ignite fear in your belly. Options might include support from your local authority, local community grants for food or waste related projects or crowd funding. Hubbub can give you a guide to fundraising and sources of grants.
Your budget should cover the core components of a Pumpkin Festival, such as: •
Staffing costs for local delivery
•
Catering
•
Venue hire
•
Printing and displays
•
Workshop leaders
•
Travel and expenses
•
Materials/decorations/kitchen
11
SHARE YOUR EVENT WITH #PUMPKINRESCUE
Inspiring change Registered charity12 number 1158700
SHARE YOUR EVENT WITH #PUMPKINRESCUE