Open Door Community Kitchen Reboot

We are back! Open Door Community Kitchen is back and serving food regularly to people struggling with food insecurity in East London. For those of you that follow our Instagram (@opendoorcommunitykitchen-shameless plug!) you know we have been making guest appearances with different social enterprises over the last year. We are so excited to get our own operations up and running again.

Our commitments are as before; everything you donate will go directly to purchasing the food for healthy, nutritious and above all else; delicious meals for those battling food insecurity in the greater London Area. One meal = 1 pound (meaning if you donate 5 pounds, that’s five meals!)

Thank you for your support- we couldn't do this without you!

A reminder of our story...

In June 2019 as the pandemic was looming, Phoebe and Clem were becoming increasingly shocked by reports on food insecurity across the UK. Especially as increasing numbers of shelters and support centers were being forced to close because of social distancing requirements. At the same time, they knew many of their friends and families were both desperate to help, and were lucky enough to have the time and resources to do so. Together, with co-founders Nat, Nell and Jago, they plotted a solution- Open Door Community Kitchen (ODCK) was born.

Based out of a donated kitchen in East London, ODCK team started cooking 250 meals a week for homeless people in the greater London Area. Based on their key concept: everyone deserves a ‘hot, nutritious and above all else; delicious meal,’ the team got to work cooking seasonally inspired meals. It was difficult at first, the majority of the team had never cooked en masse before. However, after a few practice runs, and an amazing team of volunteers who turned out week after week to help, they mastered so many dishes- from curries to burritos to dumplings to stews. By August 2019 they were able to scale their operations to 400 meals a week. They also started collecting delicious baked goods from the local community, driven by the belief that everyone deserves a sweet treat to finish off their meal. Over the next two years, the team raised 11,000 pounds, cooked 16,000 meals, and worked with 800 amazing volunteers.

Whilst originally based in East London, ODCK started to branch out into different areas, with a second branch being created in West London, as well as a partnership with Stoney Street restaurant who started cooking food for local schools in Peckham. They partnered with epic NGOs including Charity Begins at Home, City Harvest, Chefs in Schools, and amazing local businesses including E5, Pophams, The Dusty Knuckle, ManiLife, Francombe Farm Bakery and more.

The team is so excited to get back to more regular operations and would love your support to do so! THANK YOU!