For the past seven years, Idia’s Community Kitchen has been a lifeline in Hackney. Our dedicated team operates seven days a week, collecting surplus food from local businesses to ensure that good food never goes to waste. Through our kitchen operations and our vital street outreach programs, we provide nutritious meals, warm parcels, and critical support directly to those facing severe food insecurity, homelessness, hardship, and isolation.

The heart of our charity belongs to our founder, Aina, who set up the kitchen in loving memory of her daughter, who tragically passed away at just 11 years old. As a young girl, she and Aina used to take food and drinks to homeless people together. Today, that profound spirit of deep compassion lives on through our daily work.

The Emergency We Face Right Now

Today, that lifeline has been cut short. Due to severe disrepair, our kitchen has been forced to close down.

This closure means we have been completely blocked from doing what we do best: feeding over 900+ vulnerable people every single week. At a time when the cost of living is squeezing local low-income households, isolated older people, and families in crisis the hardest, our doors are locked because the space is no longer safe or functional.

How Your Donation Will Help Us Reopen

We refuse to let our community go hungry, but we cannot fix this alone. We are urgently launching this campaign to raise £8,500 for a vital kitchen refurbishment. 

Every single penny raised through this page will go directly toward repairing the space, upgrading essential equipment, and ensuring we meet all health and safety standards so we can get our volunteers back to work.

Please Help Us Rebuild

Any contribution, no matter how small, will bring us one step closer to turning the cookers back on and filling food parcels for the hundreds of neighbours right on our doorstep who rely on us.

If you are unable to donate, please consider sharing our story with your friends, family, and colleagues.

From the bottom of our hearts—and on behalf beneficeries waiting to welcome us back—thank you for your kindness, your urgency, and your support.