This week reminded us that community is built through many small acts of cooperation.

For 10 years, we have been sharing free food with people in our community. What began as a simple act of rescuing food and sharing it has gradually grown into a wider experiment in mutual aid — connecting food rescue, community meals, neighbourhood distribution, volunteering, skills, creativity and friendship.

And this week, we saw that experiment continue to grow.

A warm table in the rain

Saturday’s Shared Table went ahead despite the rain. People gathered together, shared food and conversation, and stayed warm together.

There were people from many different countries around the table, along with several new faces from local shelter services. One of the things we care about deeply is creating a gathering where people can feel welcome and safe — including women and young people.

The table isn’t just about food. It’s about creating a place where people can belong.

A new partnership

A particularly exciting development this week was our new partnership with Ash and the New Sydney Hotel Hobart.

Starting next week, the hotel will provide a regular curry for our Saturday gathering. We’ll collect the hot food directly from the kitchen and bring it across to the Shared Table, where it can be served alongside food prepared by our volunteers.

It’s a wonderful example of what can happen when local businesses decide to contribute something practical to their community.

Thank you, Ash, and everyone at the New Sydney Hotel.

Communities know their own needs

This week we also continued supporting local residents through food distribution, including work connected with Jutland Village.

One idea is becoming increasingly important to us: the people who live in a community are often the people best placed to understand what their neighbours actually need.

Rather than everything being decided from the top down, we’re interested in experimenting with giving communities more control over resources and trusting residents to make thoughtful, ethical decisions.

There is something quite powerful about that.

Food, making and a little bit of magic

Our woodcraft project continues to develop alongside the food work.

We make small timber products, including our Huon pine spatulas, and use the proceeds to help fund food and community activities. It’s an unusual combination — woodworking helping fund mutual aid — but that’s exactly what makes the experiment interesting.

Our FNB Hobart Makers Etsy store is now another way for people to support the work while taking home something handmade.

Visit the FNB Hobart Makers Etsy store

The Etsy cheat — subscribers only

Here’s a little secret just for subscribers.

If you favourite an item in the FNB Hobart Makers Etsy store, you’ll receive 40% off. If you add a product to your cart, you’ll receive 50% off.

The discount applies to eligible products only and excludes the FNB Hobart Makers spatula.

We’re sharing this quietly with subscribers as a thank-you for being part of the growing FNB Hobart community.

We’re particularly enjoying seeing people become involved in the making itself. The idea isn’t simply to sell things; it’s to create opportunities for people to contribute skills, learn something, make something useful and help fund something bigger.

Building the network

Behind the scenes, we’ve also been developing FNBHobart.org as a place where people can follow what we’re doing, subscribe for updates, volunteer, donate and discover the different ways people can participate.

Our subscriber list has now reached 25 people — still small, but growing steadily.

We’re also continuing to explore clothing distribution, food partnerships, community pantry support and other ways of connecting resources with people who need them.

A lot of this work is still experimental.

That’s intentional.

We don’t have a giant organisation telling us exactly how community should work. We’re trying things, seeing what works, listening to people, and building from there.

By the Numbers

10 years — of sharing free food with our community.

250kg — of food rescued this week and redirected towards people rather than waste.

25 seats — around the Shared Table.

30 families — reached through the Community Pantry.

3 volunteer cooks — helping prepare food for FNB Hobart.

Several new faces — joining us from local shelter services.

25 subscribers — now following FNB Hobart through our website.

1 new partnership — with the New Sydney Hotel Hobart, beginning regular curry support next week.

2 record-breaking posts — our highest post views and likes were achieved twice this week.

Behind every number is a person.

A person who cooked.
A person who donated.
A person who rescued food.
A person who sat at the table.
A person who shared a post.
A person who decided to help.

That’s really what the numbers are trying to tell us.

Community happens when people contribute what they can.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of the experiment this week — and to everyone who has been part of it over the past ten years.

There’s plenty more to come.

• Pete’s Treats: How a Box of Kindness Became a Pathway to Connection
• Notes From The Field #32: Week ending Sun 13th Sep 2026 – Small threads come together
• Notes from the Field: #31 – Week ending 6 September 2026
• Notes From the Field #30: Newsletter Week Ending 30 August 2026
• Notes from the Field: Newsletter #28 – Week Ending Sunday 16 August 2026