A group of Rotherhithe residents is using a school kitchen and giving up their Sundays to serve free meals to the needy.
Thirteen weeks ago, a small group of locals had an idea to cook for people ‘suffering in silence’ and the Rotherhithe Community Kitchen was born.
The organisers said they wanted to prove that you don’t need much to help people.
Abhishek Baloni, one of the volunteers, said: “It started with a small amount of food we prepared for the homeless. And then over the weeks, it’s grown.”
“We were never expecting this to be such a success. Now you see the local people come and they are happy.”
Every Sunday, they pitch up at Peter Hills C of E Primary School ‘at the crack of dawn’ to begin cooking. “We make big pots of rice and curry.”
They explained that aside from being ‘filling’ and affordable, they cook this meal because it stays hot for a long time.
To date, they’ve cooked over 5000 meals and there are now around 40 people who come to help out, including some teachers from the school itself.
In a project designed to bring all cultures together, they are cooking for anyone who needs it.
“The Old Kent Road Mosque, Christian charities, St Mungo’s, people from the Canada Estate and elderly people – they all come to collect food and some people come on their own,” Abhishek said.
“It’s not a political place – we want this to be a place where everyone wants to be together. Caring for people and spreading the love.”
Another volunteer, Eleanor Thorn commented: “They’re literally feeding the 5000. The quality of the food is really amazing. Everyone wants to know the recipe.”
This Sunday, (24 March) they hosted a free event for the popular Hindu colour festival – known as Holi – to celebrate colours, love and the start of Spring.
Around one hundred people turned up throughout the day to share food, dance and smear each other with bright-coloured powder – as is tradition.
So far they have been supported by local MP for Bermondsey and Old Southwark, Neil Coyle, who said he’s ‘proud’ to have helped set it up: “I’m amazed to see how fast it has grown and how many people it is already helping.
“It is run by a great team and I’m happy to continue supporting them grow and help more local people.”
Despite receiving his support and also the support of a nearby Indian restaurant, Mogul, the initiative is otherwise self-funded by the volunteers.
“To keep it going and make it even bigger we need to register as a charity and then we can accept donations.”
They explained that they hoped to give the money to Surrey Docks Farm and also fund more kitchen appliances. Abhishek added: “We hope to get a community garden involved too – where we’ll use the produce we have grown for the food we cook.”