Coexist Community Kitchen £50k Fundraiser

UNIQUE REWARDS YOU CAN PLEDGE FOR!

WHO WE ARE

We are the Coexist Community Kitchen, an inclusive, non-profit cooking school and social space located in the heart of Easton in Bristol. We’re passionate about using food as a catalyst for change, and for over a decade have been providing a welcoming space where individuals from diverse backgrounds can come together, learn new skills, and rebuild their lives. We believe that food has the power to transform not only individuals, but entire communities.

Our work is centred around supporting those who face multiple challenges in their lives, including mental health issues, food insecurity, domestic abuse, risk of trafficking, problematic use of alcohol or drugs, as well as individuals seeking refuge from war or conflict. We work with people to understand the unique struggles they face and strive to create a safe and nourishing environment where they can heal, grow, and regain their sense of self-worth.

WHAT WE DO

Through practical workshops and cooking courses, we empower our participants to develop their culinary skills and foster a sense of dignity and belonging. We encourage them to share their skills with others, which creates a space where everyone feels seen, valued and at home. We go beyond cooking to incorporate additional support as needed, such as language lessons and guidance on nutrition, budgeting, and work opportunities. 

Watch this video to find out more about Speak & Eat, one of our outreach programmes which is designed to support individuals in our community whose first language is not English. 

In addition to our workshops, we run a weekly Community Meals service. With the help of dedicated volunteers, we utilise food bank donations to prepare around 150 nutritious meals for individuals and families facing food insecurity. Sadly, the need for this service is growing rapidly, with 1 in 28 households in Bristol experiencing severe food insecurity in 2022/23, more than double the previous year.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

We are trying to raise £50,000 this Winter to help us build resilience and stability within our Community Kitchen to help it grow, develop and diversify - so that we can ultimately help more people and deliver greater impact across Bristol. 

The money we raise will go towards staffing costs, training, new equipment, kitchen refurbishments & promotional activity to help us generate more income for the kitchen through our catering service, public workshops, hosted events and space hire. The money we raise (as always) will then be directed straight back into the kitchen, helping us run more workshops, work with new partners, improve access for all and fully integrate people who have come through our programmes to offer them opportunities to learn, work and socialise.

WHAT COULD WE DO IF WE HIT OUR TARGET?

Reaching our target would enable us to expand our team, update our equipment and reach new audiences in order to generate more income for the Kitchen. That income would allow us to then run more outreach sessions, develop new programmes, work with new partners in Bristol and help a greater number of people in our community. 

It would also allow us to take steps towards our dream of fully integrating people who have come through our programmes by offering them free or low-cost social events, skills training, volunteer opportunities and paid employment opportunities where possible. 

HOW WE WILL SPEND THE MONEY WE RAISE

• £8k Replace old and broken kitchen equipment that isn't working properly after 12 years of heavy use (e.g. buy a new dishwasher to save lots of staff and volunteers hours spent washing up) .
• £6.5k Carry out general kitchen refurbishments following wear & tear during more than a decade of constant use.  
• £25k Employ more staff to help us generate income through catering, running public cooking workshops and events.
• £1k Build our team's skillset and train new team members to improve our capacity for delivery.
• £3k Put money towards promotional activities like e-marketing, social media, design & printing of posters & leaflets to promote our services and events to generate income.  
• £5k Rebuild & increase our storage space to improve capacity for our catering services, and to provide storage space for small business who hire our kitchen.
• £1.5k Design & build a small on-site shop to increase our shop sales.

These investments will then enable us to develop, diversify and expand our social outreach work to help even more people in our community.

Some of the things we'd like to do for example is:

• Expand our weekly Community Meals service
• Cover public transport costs for those who cannot afford transportation to our kitchen
• Launch a 'Community Meal' for socialising in a warm space with low-cost food options
• Provide a free place in every Public Cooking Workshop and Event for unemployed, low-income individuals, migrants, or refugees
• Pilot a programme to teach batch cooking and effective budgeting for cost-effective meals
• Develop a course to support isolated older people in the community
• Implement sustainability measures based on our recent Sustainability Report
• Establish a dedicated stakeholder forum to improve service provision

There are so many people who benefit from the Coexist Community Kitchen, but we know there are so many more that need our help. Please help us reach our target and increase our impact in the community.