Our Half Term Kids Club on The Food Bus!
Written by Fazela Khatun
Over October half term Brixton People’s Kitchen teamed up with The Food Bus to deliver holiday food and fun for families in Lambeth and Wandsworth.
We introduced our first ever Little Pumpkins Kids Club, a four day event across South London. The Food Bus visited Roehampton, Stockwell, Furzedown and Kennington, providing free food and activities for all the family. Whilst festive fun took over the top-deck of the bus, on the bottom deck our Food Bus shop was up and running, selling low-cost food to members of the community.
Each day families visited the bus for pumpkin carving workshops, and other fun activities. Fancy dress was encouraged, and we were so impressed with how creative the costumes were!
A free hot meal of soup and bread was provided to everyone, as well as healthy snacks. The food served was all surplus, to further our mission of combating food waste. Lunches were made by our amazing Food bus Assistant Manager Helen, and Food Bus Driver Judy. We were also lucky to have the amazing volunteers Fanny and Aaron, who helped set up and organise our kids clubs across the week.
Quotes from Parents / Guardians
One Mother said "I love the bus, this is fantastic for the community and for the children. This should be around more often! I loved the hot soup and cheers to the chef." - Lisa
"We had lots of fun, this should happen more. This Is a great thing to do before the kids go back to school." Dareena and Elizabeth
"We really enjoyed the kids club, it was well organised, the carving kits were easy to use and my kids had lots of fun!" Agnieszka and Linn
Pumpkins for our workshops were sourced from the family-run Standhill Farm, based in Kent. In addition to getting to take their pumpkins home, families received recipes that they could use to cook them up once the spooky season was over.
(Food Bus Assistant Manager - Helen)
Over the week, we were able to provide forty five free meals to children, in addition to providing their families with a free hot meal, heartwarming memories and access to affordable groceries. As the cost of living crisis and holiday hunger for children continues, projects like this are essential to our local communities. We need to help people connect through good food and create conversations as long as we can.