ChangeKitchen COVID in the Community

ChangeKitchen CIC: FEEDING VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES FUND

Who we are:

ChangeKitchen is a social enterprise caterer which has been supporting our local communities throughout the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. Beginning in March 2020, we have delivered 600 meals a week, every week, free of charge to the most in need in South Birmingham. Through great effort, including invaluable help from many volunteers, we have racked up an impressive thirty thousand meals delivered since the first Lockdown one year ago. 

We currently operate out of a single kitchen at the Jericho Building in Balsall Heath, and primarily service the wards of Hall Green, Moseley, Kings Heath, Ladywood, Basall Heath, Hockley, Sparkbrook, & Sparkhill. In these areas, we serve a great number of low-income families from diverse ethnic backgrounds, elderly residents, and vulnerable communities, some of whom belong to the homeless community.

We are about to run out of generous funding that we have so far relied on to do this important work, just at a time when we are seeing an increase in need for our services due to the economic impacts of the pandemic. We have seen that across the city, the need for food banks has doubled.

If we are to carry on this much-needed work, then we need your help in the form of any donations you can spare to help the staff and volunteers of ChangeKitchen achieve our goals over the next six months.



Our Running Cost:
So far we have maintained our level of service through grants from the Social Enterprise Support Fund (SESF) [via The National Lottery Community Fund], and through working hand-in-hand with other charities and social enterprises within movements such as #BrumTogether, initially with the support of Birmingham City Council. 

Unfortunately, this grant support is coming to an end in March, and the next round of funding is not available until July. It is therefore imperative that we find the extra donations to carry on this vital work and upgrade our infrastructure to meet the demands of the coming financial year.

It currently costs us about £4000 a month to run our social enterprise. This money goes towards wages, rent, insurance, van hire, and food to top-up the surplus, amongst other expenses.

We estimate the total cost will rise to £5000 in the coming months, in line with meeting increased future demand.

Also, our kitchen is in need of repair and refitting, since 2 out of 3 of our ovens have failed, and we are in the process of procuring a dishwasher given our increasing output.

Where we get our food donations from:
•Waitrose via FareShare Go
•Incredible Surplus (formerly TRJFP Brum) Winson Green Sharehouse
•Our partners in the #BrumTogether network
•Other food via FareShare, more recently via Coop NISA / Ruprai in Kings Heath




What We Need:

We need financial support to do the following over the next six months:

Provide a further 400 meals per week, bringing us up to 1000 meals a week.

Replace our 2 failed ovens with 1 modern, professional fan oven, so that we can increase our food output.

Upgrade our kitchen backend with some new pots, pans, and utensils to keep up with our increased workload.

What we need from you / other opportunities to help:
Although this is a fundraiser, there are other ways in which you can help us. From donating your time volunteering, to sharing our appeal for help via social media and word of mouth.

Monetary donations:

We are hoping with donations from the general public and private enterprise to raise enough to cover our general running costs and upgrade our kitchen. Any help you can give will be greatly appreciated by ourselves and the greater community we serve.

The Social Supper Club:

The Social Supper Club is ChangeKitchen’s latest offering, creating innovative mealboxes to pick up and heat & enjoy at home. This helps us (and you!) to do even more good because for every £20 spent, ChangeKitchen CIC will provide £5 of nutritious homemade meals back into the local community.

Volunteering:

We are always looking for interested volunteers to help towards the work of prepping, cooking, and cleaning at our busy Jericho Kitchen in Balsall Heath. Please get in touch at [email redacted] for more information. 

Social media

Please share this page amongst your friends and any local Facebook groups to help our fundraiser get seen by as many people as possible.