Firstly, we'd like to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported Brixton People's Kitchen and encouraged the essential work we do.
2021 has been a rollercoaster year so far for our organisation. We entered the new year with a bang after serving our community throughout the entire festive period. Providing over 100 free Christmas dinners from our community shop and cafe in Kennington- as well as an array of gifts and goodies and toys. We did even more for Valentine's Day- you know how we like to share the love.
In the months that followed we supported over 600 households and opened our space 6 days a week to our local community and friends. This meant we could provide nutritious affordable meals daily, a safe space for people to come together, and free school meals every school holiday.
With your support, BPK was able to continue providing weekly shops to our local community for just £5. All the while navigating the ripple effects of a year of lock-downs, ever-changing Covid regulations, and supply chain issues due to Brexit.
In April 2021 the rug was swiftly pulled from underneath us as we were served notice by The Black Prince Trust. In a process that we deemed unfair and unjust, we were given just three months to pack up our shop- something I'm sure many of you read about in the local press and saw on local news.
Despite being without a home, BPK still delivered every single planned project in the Summer Holiday. Providing 4000 meals for school children and executing our Summer Holiday Takeover at St Anselm's Church. Which reminds me, a HUGE thank you to Angus and Donna for giving us the perfect space to enjoy the Summer with our community. Thanks to our amazing work together Brixton People's Kitchen provided five weeks of free workshops, activities, and lunches for young people aged 3-16, 4 days a week.
Here at BPK our aim was always to build a community of people who understood the nutritional values of food and give families access to these ingredients with pride and dignity. We wanted to prevent food waste, save food from landfill and divert it to hungry mouths and bellies. In this, I can say that we truly succeeded. We were previously supporting over 250+ households a week and built vital relationships within our community. While this hasn't been possible as we wait for our new space, we continue to aim to widen our reach through multiple projects and by opening more community hubs in the future- despite our knockbacks. Thus, enriching our communities through food and creating an even playing field for all to thrive.
We have lots of exciting stuff planned for the future, including the launch of our brand new shop! We are so proud of what we do here at Brixton People's Kitchen and we hope to be able to continue to do our work for as long as possible. Stay tuned.