Cooking Champions Community Kitchen

We believe in the power of food as a force for good

We are opening the first dedicated community kitchen in the heart of Enfield. This local hub will become a hive of free/low-cost food-based activities, bringing the community together for training, workshops and other events to support the local neighbourhood.

Cooking Champions have been working to address food poverty for over two years. Providing food packages was just the first step. Now it’s time to create long-term, sustainable support for our borough through an established space that will educate and empower on all food-related matters. We are excited to make this happen with your help!

Our project

The cost-of-living crisis is causing fear, worry and stress for the nation. A shattering impact is expected, and it will hit Enfield hard as the 9th most deprived borough in London.

Cooking Champions Community Kitchen aims to alleviate financial concerns for the local community by providing a dedicated kitchen space for people to come and cook for free. We would provide the food, the kitchen space and have our experienced staff on hand to help with any questions. Ultimately, we want to break down the many barriers (such as financial or living arrangements) that prevent local people from being able to cook the food that they enjoy eating and sharing the experience with friends and family.

National food charities have documented that financial stress correlates with mental health difficulties. That is why we want our kitchen to be a safe and welcoming space for our community to enjoy together.

The problem

Enfield is an area facing extreme challenges with income inequality and poverty:

1 in 3 children live in poverty (Enfield Council)

16% of Enfield households have an annual gross household income of less than £15,000

It is the 9th most deprived borough in London (Enfield Council).

Ponders End (where the kitchen will be based) is among the 10% most deprived neighbourhoods in England

Add to this the shocking 80% increase in energy bills and the problem is crystal clear. In this crisis, now is the time to take action for those who need it the most.

The solution

The map below displays the percentage of households in poverty in the Borough of Enfield.

Our new community kitchen will be based in the epicentre of the most affected areas (in red), meaning we are in a prime location for providing support.

By providing a community-focused hub of food-based support, we aim to make people’s day-to-day lives more manageable and also for the months and years ahead.

In our first year of operation, we want to achieve the following goals:

What makes the programme unique

While there have been many fantastic pop-ups and temporary kitchens in the area, the Cooking Champions Community Kitchen will be the first fixed space; a place people can rely on, run by people they can trust.

Our ‘Open House’ kitchen sessions are a forward step from donated meals. Members of the local community will be given a selection of fresh produce from food distribution charity The Felix Project and key cultural ingredients that are harder to obtain in food banks. This allows individuals to maintain comforting food links with their heritage or culture, an important consideration that is often difficult to meet when receiving food donations. If people need some guidance, a highly qualified member of our kitchen team will be on hand to offer advice and support and there will be copies of our tried and tested recipes to take home.

We will provide the use of all equipment and the associated energy costs free of charge; this will be a huge financial relief. Many of the families we currently support have often asked for food that doesn’t involve any cooking due to the costs involved. Our groundbreaking scheme will provide a safe space to create tasty and nutritious meals to be taken home and used throughout the week.

About Cooking Champions + why we are the ones for the job!

We are Cooking Champions - a food-focused organisation set up specifically to benefit and support individuals and families in our North London community.

Our founder, Clare Donovan, launched Cooking Champions in Jan 2020 as the Covid outbreak hit the UK, providing food for the homeless, NHS workers, people isolating and families who needed support. Since April 2020, Cooking Champions have made and distributed over 50,000 meals for the communities around them, delivered food packages every week, and hosted frequent fundraising events, pop-ups, themed dinners/parties and workshops.

We are passionate and proactive, using the wide range of skills of our core team and incredible volunteers to tackle issues within our community. We work closely with our recipients - we get to know them, their wants, hopes and concerns. We adapt to each and every person’s needs so that we are serving individuals as best we can.

Cooking Champions has extensive experience running cooking lessons, training and workshops in local schools and community engagement. We have launched a locally based working group to enable residents to have their voices heard. Their feedback and ideas will actively shape our projects and make sure they are tailored to the needs of the people who use our services.

Founder Clare was the first Enfield Food Alliance Coordinator and played a fundamental part in setting up this borough-wide support network, strengthening positive relationships with many local food-based organisations. As the need in this area is so great, we want to continue collaborating with these partners by offering the kitchen to other groups to ensure it is used to its full potential.

Our ultimate goal at Cooking Champions was to run a dedicated community kitchen. Due to the challenges faced with financing it, along with an urgent need to be reactive in providing emergency food support, our plans were put on hold.

Now a few years down the line, with a bigger team, larger community presence and an amazing network of volunteers and supporters, we are in a really strong position to achieve this goal.

Costs

To make our community kitchen a reality, we need £15,000. The money raised will go towards:

Closing comments

We believe that food is a force for good. On a basic physiological level it is essential to human existence, but you don’t have to delve very deep to see how food can break down barriers, strengthen personal connections and enhance community cohesion.

This is a time-critical situation. We have the drive, the knowledge and the skills to run this community kitchen. The opening of this space will be the difference between some people being able to eat or not. Will you help us make it happen?

www.cookingchampions.uk

Please note: no raffles, sweepstakes, giveaways, or promotions are offered in exchange for any donations made to this GoFundMe.