Hello All,
Well we made it through the various lockdowns , doing everything we could to stay open ( Within Government guidelines) and keep serving our community. The kitchen has been open for 2 years and 18 months of those through the pandemic.
Firstly a massive thank you to YOU the community for your outpouring of love and support. You may remember it was you that stepped up when we made a Social media appeal to help find accommodation for a lady who had become homeless and was sleeping rough during the 1st lockdown. And too encourage you , that lady was able to make the first steps to rebuilding her life , with the support of a local family , gaining employment and moving on to pastures new. Unfortunately homelessness is on the increase and we are currently supporting and desperately seeking to find accommodation for one of our kitchen guests who is currently homeless.
The other side of the coin is not such a success, In the last 16 months we sadly lost 6 kitchen guests , who passed away due to the very vulnerabilities they struggled with ,the youngest being in his 30s.
We are currently supporting over 25 -30 people across the 2 days that we open , This number is increasing as we go into the winter months . Our user have a wide range of needs and issues that require additional support so we are very pleased to have the support of a nurse practitioner (NHS Funded) who is allocated to Bridport on Wednesdays and their role is to support the physical and mental health needs of those who can’t access the health system very easily. We also have a member of the Julian House Housing trust team, who are based in Weymouth and support the (Bridport) homeless in to accommodation. Both of these amazing peoples will be based at the kitchen each Wednesday so that they can start connecting with those in need. In addition, we are in contact with the local Town council Regarding the approved plans for temporary accommodation for the homeless in Bridport
In September the Kitchen was interviewed and a feature has been published by the Bridge Magazine. This has generated awareness and additional support.This year we have been really blessed with new volunteers coming on board. We now have someone who cooks every week in the form of Vegetable ladened Lasagnes and Chilli and we provide vegetarian and Gluten-free options . Another new volunteer has taking on the Soup making role and I’ll continue to make the Cottage pies. All our cooks are required to have completed the Food hygiene course and have been checked and rated by Dorset county council .
As the Bridport community kitchen grows we have started looking forward and we have started planning for the year ahead . As from January 2022 we will open on Thursdays in addition to Wednesdays & Fridays . We will be extending our opening times by opening earlier on all 3 days that we are open.
We are planning and fundraising for the following :
Shower and clothes washing facilities. ,Commercial kitchen ( so we can cook on site),Various kitchen and cooking appliances ,Cooking & Art workshops ,External Decking area with garden furniture and Training for Volunteers
We have already started (in November ) the process of fundraising by applying to charitable trusts , fundraising on Social media and asking local business’s to get involved. In a very short time the response has been fantastic and we are now able to proceed with the shower and clothe washing facilities.
We held our Christmas lunch on Wednesday 22nd that was enjoyed by 30 guests with our amazing community contributing towards the Christmas gifts we were able to hand out to our guests. So a big thank you to Keira @Morrisons .
As we seek to be more inclusive we have decided to make a slight change to our name, so as of January we will be known as The Bridport community kitchen. We hope this will encourage more of our community to use the kitchen Cos let’s face it , we are all in need of positive social interaction and a healthy diet.
If you have been touched by what you have read and want to support the Bridport community kitchen please contact me , Simon on 07866 752 424 or Email: bridportcommunitykitchen@gmail.com . You are more than welcome to come and have lunch with us on Wednesdays , Thursdays and Fridays and see the kitchen in action.
MANY INDIVIDUALS IN OUR COMMUNITY HAVE GIVEN VERY GENEROUSLY AND FROM THE BOTTOM OF OUR HEARTS WE SAY THANK YOU. YOUR SUPPORT IS MAKING A REAL DIFFERENCE AND CHANGING LIVES.
Thank you for your time in reading this Newsletter !
HAVE A BLESSED NEW YEAR
FROM ALL @
THE BRIDPORT COMMUNITY KITCHEN
