Corporate Team Building

Sign up for a one of a kind team building experience in Melbourne! Corporate groups are invited to prepare ‘A Real Meal’ (ARM) using rescued food and fresh produce from TBU’s Urban Farm in MG’s commercial kitchen. Led by our chef and volunteers, teams will enjoy creating restaurant quality meals while learning about composting and zero-waste cooking techniques. These meals will then be served at Federation Square Melbourne to our friends on the street. This socially conscious teambuilding activity opens eyes, warms hearts and changes lives. This team building experience will stay with you all your life. Fostering and growing a community that cares enough to stop and offer support.

What is team building with TBU?

A Real Meal is about more than just providing hot food to those in the marginalised communities of Melbourne. We aim to create friendships, build trust and give the most important thing one can give: OUR TIME.

The Big Umbrella does not receive any government support, so we rely entirely on the support and involvement of corporate volunteers to fund and run the ARM program.

How does my team benefit?

TBU offers teambuilding like nothing you have already experienced; it changes lives, both for the volunteers and those who need our service.

As well as helping to strengthen and connect your team, our ARM teambuilding participants develop skills and critical thinking in areas such as:

Tell me more about team building?

We run our teambuilding program on Wednesdays and Thursdays each week. Teams meet at our kitchen in Brunswick to prepare nutritious hot meals and then proceed to Federation Square in Melbourne’s CBD for our street meal service. You’ll be encouraged to sit down and share a meal and a conversation with our friends on the street.

Please check out our Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn pages to see us in action and read about how teambuilding with TBU has enriched organisations, fostered relationships and created a caring community.

Sign up your workplace to volunteer

Fill out the form to join us at TBU

If this sounds like something you would like your workplace to be a part of, please fill out the form. Alternatively reach out to teambuilding@thebigumbrella.org.

We would be delighted to have you join us at TBU!

Corporate Team Building FAQ's

Do you operate the ARM service on days besides Wednesdays and Thursdays?

Currently, we operate our ARM program on Wednesdays and Thursdays only.

Will you be operating on any other days?

Yes, we will open Tuesdays in Brunswick shortly.

What if my team is smaller than the numbers recommended for each service?

Should your numbers be lower than the recommended numbers for each component of teambuilding, we can call on our volunteers to fill in the numbers and support your team.

Can I bring my children with me for teambuilding?

Children must be a minimum of 15 years of age and accompanied by a guardian to join a teambuilding session in the kitchen. Volunteers must be 18 and over to join the street meal service.

What do I do if my confirmed team numbers change prior to our team building date?

Should your numbers change, please contact teambuilding@thebigumbrella.org or call 0499 012 150 to notify us of the changes as soon as possible.

How many people do I need to organise for each part of the team building experience?

You can have groups of up to 15 in the kitchen and up to 20 for meal service, with a minimum of 5 for clean up, preferably 10. There is some flexibility in these numbers; please contact the Corporate Teambuilding Coordinator to discuss.

Do we have to come back for clean up?

Yes. It is part of the teambuilding experience. We require a minimum of 5 people, preferably 10, to come back for a quick clean up in Brunswick.

Is there any transportation available?

We have limited spots available in our TBU cars for volunteers to join from Brunswick HQ to Federation Square and back.

How much do the volunteering t-shirts cost?

The purchase of t-shirts required to be worn by our volunteers is included in the teambuilding session charges. This t-shirt is yours to keep and acts as your high-vis wear.

Is TBU covered by insurance for our volunteers?

Volunteers are fully covered by The Big Umbrella comprehensive insurance policy for accidents and injuries.

We are a small business and cannot afford the costs of a full corporate teambuilding session. Can we still support you?

If your business is small and your team building budget is limited, you may wish to join us for a kitchen only team building experience at a lower cost or join us for a day of volunteering as individual volunteers. Please contact our Volunteer Manager at volunteering@thebigumbrella.org.

We don’t want to have a teambuilding session; however, we would like to make a donation towards your work. How do we do this?

Please feel free to donate directly through our website donation page. If you require a tax invoice, please contact us at teambuilding@thebigumbrella.org. TBU is a fully registered and recognised charity and your donations will be eligible for tax deductibility.

What are people saying?

Just a quick note to say thank you for inviting me to come along to last nights’ employee volunteer program with Big Umbrella. I had no expectations nor preconceived ideas about the evening. I was absolutely overwhelmed and felt very humble, the people I met and had the chance to talk with were just amazing. Their gratitude and appreciation was something that will last with me for ever.

Working with The Big Umbrella has been great. Being able to contribute and give back to the community with a great bunch of enthusiastic volunteers really added to the night. One of the reasons I enjoyed participating in the “A Real Meal” project, was the interactions with people on the street. We not only provide delicious food, but we are able to share our lives and communicate with them. I am definitely looking forward to volunteering again and getting on board with this charity in different ways!

Volunteering with the Big Umbrella with some of my colleagues for the past 2 years has been an invaluable experience for me. The evenings are very well organized and run by the Big Umbrella volunteers, and we always feel like we fit right in. The customers we serve are friendly, thankful and make some interesting conversation. I would recommend this program to any company looking to organize a volunteering event that doubles as a team building exercise. There is nothing that brings a team together quite like being able to put a smile on someone’s face while cooking pancakes at Flinders Street Station!

As a Melbourne family business, The Pancake Parlour loves to see the people of this city work together to tackle the issues we face as a community. Over the past two years, we’ve teamed up with The Big Umbrella to provide meals to our friends on the street at the Flinders Street Station Soup Kitchen, and raised $25,000 through initiatives for International Pancake Day. Teaming up with a wonderful organisation such as The Big Umbrella has enabled us to celebrate the spirit of family and friendship, and combine our unique values to work towards a common goal, and that’s to provide ‘A Real Meal’ to the marginalised community of Melbourne.