More than a meal
Our Open Kitchens serve a hot lunch five or six days a week in community halls, church rooms and a former bank. Anyone can come. Nobody is asked why they are there.
Each kitchen also hosts free advice sessions. A benefits adviser, a housing caseworker or one of our tutors is often sitting at the next table, which is how many people first hear about our other programmes.
Serving more for less
This year we served 412,600 meals, 13% more than last year and above our target of 380,000. Two new partnerships with regional food suppliers mean surplus stock that once went to waste now arrives at our kitchens each morning. That is why our spending on Open Kitchens fell even as the number of meals rose.
Spending is not the same as impact
A lower food bill is good news, but on its own it says nothing about the difference a meal makes. That is why we also ask people about their confidence and wellbeing, and why those results sit alongside the meal count in this report.
