THE PEOPLE'S KITCHEN
Why was the charity founded?
The People’s Kitchen was formed in 1985 when founder Alison Kay heard about the death of a homeless man, a year later, Alison had a team of 40 volunteers and together they opened the first People’s Kitchen to support the homeless and vulnerable by offering food, clothes, and friendship. We now have hundreds of volunteers and serve around 250 meals per day.
Which area do you cover?
Our friends come from all across Tyneside to use our facilities, get a hot meal and be amongst people who care.
What type of fundraising events do you have?
We operate entirely on a workforce of volunteers. No-one gets paid a penny for the work that they do within the Kitchen. We receive no government funding and as such we are totally reliant on the goodwill and generosity of the people, the communities and the business within our region who support us. We run one annual Christmas Campaign called “Feed a Friend for a Fiver” and this generates the funds to provide food throughout the Christmas period and beyond. This year we also put in a PK GNR team – our first ever attempt to do this – we had 30 volunteers who ran for us – we are still collecting the sponsorship money from this but the money raised will be going towards keeping our free ‘Corner Shop’ open. We work with organisations and businesses to become their ‘Charity of the Year’, we work with schools and churches who support us with Harvest Festival donations and regular giving and we also offer Corporate Volunteering opportunities to try and foster better links with businesses who can support us.
How did you adapt during the Coronavirus pandemic?
During COVID, a limited service was introduced with takeaway meals distributed at our doors under stringent social distancing regulations. We are now serving food 365 days of the year, five nights a week and two mornings so that people can get a hot meal every single day. We no longer go out with food vans but invite all of our Friends into the Kitchen every day so that they can not only get a hot meal but they can also, use our bathrooms, get a hot shower and just have a sit down for a little while. Being warm and clean is so important especially as the cost of fuel bills rise and we’ve also found that if people feel good about themselves then their mental health improves too.
What have been your proudest moments so far?
We were awarded The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service in 2014 for which we are all immensely proud. However, it is the feedback from our Friends that really keeps us all going Our volunteers feel proud every time they serve food, chat to our friends, or help them with a problem. – we know we are not fixing the bigger underlying social issues, and that really, we are a sticking plaster, but we try to make life just a little bit better for people, every day.
Who are your trustees?
We have a Board of Trustees made up of eight people who have a wide range of experience both from within the charitable sector and between them they have the specific skills to ensure the charity operates within its guiding principles, always putting the needs of our Friends first. However, it is our Team Leaders who manage the day to day operation of the Kitchen.
What are you currently working on?
Our annual “Feed a Friend for a Fiver” Christmas campaign is about to launch. Just £5 can make such a difference to the lives of our friends. You can donate here: www.peopleskitchen.co.uk/donate What does the future hold? With ever rising costs we are seeing an increase in the number of meals we serve each day which tells us that more and more people need our help. As ever, we will adapt to the demand and together with our fabulous volunteers and kind hearted members of the public and businesses we will continue to be there for the people who need us. How do you get involved? We regularly look for additional volunteers to join our teams – our current vacancies are posted on our website www.peopleskitchen.co.uk