Hundreds of high-quality homemade meals are being cooked and delivered to vulnerable people throughout Greenwich as part of the borough’s ground-breaking response to the Covid-19 crisis.
The charity pioneering the programme, the Greenwich Co-operative Development Agency (GCDA) has diverted its own chef to the production line, assisted by volunteer chefs from local cafés and restaurants.
GCDA coordinator Christina Reynolds said: “We’re so proud of our chef Brian Emmons, his assistants Titilope and Nicola, and of all the amazing volunteer cooks who’ve been working flat out to help us keep up with demand. We’re making and freezing up to 500 portions a day for delivery to vulnerable individuals and community groups who’ve come through the borough’s referral scheme. We aim to produce really good food using high quality surplus ingredients that have come from the charity FareShare as well as from local food businesses whose generosity has been amazing. Tasty, nutritious food is one of the best ways of showing we care for our local community.”
GCDA is using its own commercial kitchen as well as those of partners such as The Clockhouse Community Centre in Woolwich in order to meet the need. Demand has increased as the teams deliver a range of meals for distribution by the local mosque for the four weeks of Ramadan.
The innovative partnership between GCDA, the Borough Council and CACT (the Charlton Athletic Community Trust) has become a blueprint for London’s emergency food response in the face of the COVID-19 crisis.