In response to the Covid-19 outbreak, the People’s Kitchen // To Your Door programme will provide a meal delivery service to feed the vulnerable.
At 18.00 today (19 April), a group of volunteers will join Marie Cudennec, CEO & co-founder of Goldfinger Factory and Giuseppe Di Matteo, co-owner and chef of Panella to deliver 100 nutritious, hot meals to the doors of vulnerable residents of Trellick Tower and surrounding tower blocks on Golborne road, in one of London’s most deprived wards.
Goldfinger Factory launched the People’s Kitchen in 2015 as a monthly community meal to feed the hungry, reduce loneliness and social isolation.
Every third Sunday of the month, the local community is invited to enjoy a free meal at Goldfinger Factory, hosted by the owners of Panella, the social enterprise’s on-site Sicilian café. Most attendees come from Trellick Tower and the neighbouring tower blocks.
The feast is cooked from surplus food collected from local farmers’ markets and bakeries by Panella’s co-owner, Giuseppe Di Matteo and a team of volunteers.
Attendees are invited to join Giuseppe in the kitchen from 15.00, or to arrive at 18.00 to enjoy the meal, which is often accompanied by live music organised by regular volunteers.
Since the first People’s Kitchen, Goldfinger Factory has diverted over 2.55 tonnes of surplus food from landfill, and has fed 2,026 people for free.
This has become an important date in many local residents’ calendars as they look forward to a warm, delicious and nutritious meal and feel connected to their neighbours and wider Golborne Road community.
Due to the restrictions imposed to contain the COVID-19 outbreak, Goldfinger Factory are no longer permitted to host the People’s Kitchen in their café and so have transformed it into a lockdown mode: People’s Kitchen // To Your Door.
Goldfinger Factory conceived of the emergency initiative after the lockdown was announced. It was seen as a way to continue its community support, which is now needed more than ever.
Millions of people in the UK will need food aid in the coming weeks, as the Covid-19 outbreak threatens to spiral quickly into a crisis of hunger.
The consequences of food shortages combined with social isolation will be most acutely felt by the elderly, the vulnerable and those living in poverty.
Many of these people have depended on food banks or free meals at schools or in daycare centres, which have now closed.
Alongside providing nutritious, balanced meals to the vulnerable, the aim of the People’s Kitchen // To Your Door programme is also to build social cohesion and provide emotional support.
The programme demonstrates that we are all in this together, and that the People’s Kitchen’s community spirit can be continued whilst adhering to social distancing and self-isolation rules.
The People’s Kitchen // To Your Door initiative will run on 10 Sundays, feeding up to 2,000 residents.
So far, 300 meals have been donated, which will go towards the sourcing of ingredients, cooking and delivery of meals. A weekly Zoom call will also take place to help build community and reduce loneliness.
Click here to donate meal tokens or sign up for a meal here.
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