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Aim

We’re fundraising to keep our community kitchen alive & thriving - a place for food, connection, and care, where no one faces hardship alone

We are Coexist Community Kitchen, and we’ve been in Bristol for 14 years - cooking, connecting, and caring for our community. We're trying to raise £50,000 (with a stretch target of £75k) to keep our community kitchen alive & thriving - one sixth of what it costs to run the kitchen for a year. 

Tens of thousands of people have walked through our doors: young people and elders, people seeking refuge, living on low-income, those facing addiction, mental health challenges, grief, or isolation - people rebuilding, or simply needing a meal and a sense of belonging.

We provide:

• Free-to-access cooking classes for people accessing support services, experiencing marginalisation, or facing financial hardship
• Food provision for individuals and families experiencing food poverty or insecurity
• Training and skills workshops to support people into employment
• Monthly community meals to bring people together around food and conversation

Our vision

Our vision is simple: an inclusive world where everyone is nourished - not just fed, but deeply cared for. Because to be nourished is to have more than food. It’s about feeling safe, seen, and supported in a world that too often tells you you’re on your own. It’s about having opportunities, space to grow, people to rely on, and the chance to build a life with stability and dignity. To be nourished means more than just having food or money. We believe real wellbeing comes from knowing you’re not alone. From being backed by a community that listens, shares, remembers, and shows up for you when it matters.

That’s what our kitchen does. That’s what we’re fighting to protect. 

But without urgent funding, we’re at real risk of not being here for a community who has counted on us for over a decade. Now, more than ever, we need our community to show up for us - so we can keep showing up for them.

Why are we Crowdfunding?

We’re Crowdfunding because care like this is underfunded, undervalued, and at risk. Access to funding is becoming harder than ever, with many long-standing funds now hugely oversubscribed. Like so many other grassroots organisations, we receive so much praise for the vital work we’re doing - but again and again, our funding applications are turned down due to intense competition, limited resources, and rising demand. As more people turn to the third sector for support, more organisations are being forced to compete for the same shrinking pots of funding - all while facing growing pressure and rising costs. We’re at a critical point of survival, and yet our work has never felt more needed.

Our Community Kitchen is not a new idea, or a pop-up project, it’s a trusted space, where people come to eat, rest, learn, and reconnect with themselves and others. It’s where sitting around the table together opens the door to a deeper conversation. Where someone gains the confidence to apply for a job, or picks up the phone to someone they trust and ask for help. Where sharing a recipe becomes a way of sharing culture, stories, and belonging.

We give people tools and space to regain confidence, build networks, gain and share skills, and become ready for anything - not through individual struggle, but through collective care. And that only works if we can stay open - week after week, year after year.

What It Costs, What We Need & Where It Goes

It costs over £300,000 a year to run our Community Kitchen. That funding keeps our space open, our programmes thriving - and it means we can continue making deep, lasting impact for marginalised communities in Bristol.

Here’s what that looked like last year:

• Over 5,000 people coming to the kitchen to cook, eat, work, volunteer and connect
• 171 free cooking sessions
• Over 1,300 people supported through hands-on programmes
• 7,043 meals served to those facing food insecurity
• 2,400kg of food saved from landfill
• Tailored support for refugees, people in recovery, young people, and more.
• Developed our ACE (Accelerated Cooking Entrepreneurship) training course to support people into work
  
  

This is community-powered change. But it doesn’t happen without a kitchen to cook in - or a team to hold it all together.

Our Goal

We're aiming to raise £75,000 - that’s one sixth of what it costs to keep this kitchen running for a year.

Our first milestone however, is to reach £50,000, and with your help - and the backing of the Aviva Community Fund - we believe that’s a target we can reach, and hopefully exceed.

Now, we could tell you how many free cooking sessions we could run with £75k, how many meals we could make for people facing food poverty, or how many opportunities we could offer to people overcoming barriers. But the truth is, we need to fund the core costs that make all of it possible.

The unglamorous stuff. The behind-the-scenes, everyday essentials that are the foundation of everything we do - and also the hardest to fund. If we reach £75,000 - here’s how we’d put it to work where it’s needed most:

• Food & Supplies – £15,000 Groceries, ingredients, and kitchen essentials for community meals, food provision, and cooking sessions.
• Rent & Utilities – £15,000 Keeping the kitchen open, warm, and running - covering rent, gas, electricity, heating, and water.
• Access & Connection – £7,500 Travel support for people who’d otherwise struggle to get to us, plus keeping our phones, website, and outreach going so we can connect with our community.
• Hygiene, Safety & Repairs – £7,500 Cleaning supplies, fixing & replacing equipment, and maintenance to keep the kitchen clean, safe, and ready for everyone.
• People Power – £30,000 Real living wage pay for our small team who hold it all together - cooking, welcoming, coordinating, and caring for our community supported by hundreds of legendary volunteers that make our work possible.

Every donation helps keep our kitchen going - not just for the meals, but for the care, consistency, and dignity behind them.

It Takes A Village!

We don’t do this work alone. Behind every meal served, every class delivered, and every moment of connection shared, there’s a network of dedicated people, organisations and volunteers working together. 

We’re proud to partner with a diverse community of change-makers across our city - from grassroots groups to health and support services, schools, housing providers, and cultural organisations.

We work with brilliant organisations like Second Step, Aid Box Community, Bristol Drugs Project, Nelson’s Trust, ACH, and many more. Where we see need for additional services such as housing support, financial, or legal advice we often signpost people to our delivery partners (and vis versa) to make sure that together, we create a web of care that no one falls through.

How you can help

There are three simple ways to support us:

• Make a donation
  Whether it’s £5 or £500, every contribution helps us keep caring. You can even choose to donate for one of our Rewards and get something amazing back in return!
• Spread the word
  Share our campaign with friends, family, neighbours - anyone who believes in the power of community.
• Volunteer with us
  Have time, skills or lived experience to offer? We’d love to hear from you. Get in touch through the ‘Get involved’ section and submit a volunteer request form.

Why now? Why this? Why care?

Because care is not a soft word. It’s not a buzzword. It’s not a luxury, or a nice to have. It’s POWERFUL. 

It’s the foundation of a stronger society. And it’s what we’ve quietly built over 13 years - meal by meal, name by name, conversation by conversation.

This Coexist Community Kitchen isn’t just about what’s on the plate. It’s about confidence being rebuilt after years of being overlooked. The small wins celebrated that might otherwise go unseen. The sense of safety, belonging, and dignity that allows people to take control of their wellbeing and be ready for anything.

This is the kind of care that changes lives, not by doing things to people, but with them.

We believe care is power. And if you believe that too, now’s the time to help us keep it going.

Let’s protect what matters. Let’s fund care. Let’s keep our kitchen open - for everyone.

People Stories

Claudette's Story

Claudette, a professional chef from the Caribbean, came to Coexist Community Kitchen after fleeing her home country and leaving behind the catering business she’d built over 14 years. Living in a host home with limited kitchen access and struggling with low mood, something that had once been a source of joy and stability - cooking - became something she avoided.
 “The kitchen used to be a happy place,” she said. “But it became a place I didn’t want to visit because of my past.”

Through Coexist’s workshops, Claudette rekindled her love for food and began to feel more at home. “When I came to this kitchen, it felt like it lifted,” she shared. “Even when you walk out the door, you feel like you belong in this country.”

Cooking with others reignited her confidence and sense of purpose. “For me, it’s so unique -  food brings us together like family, even if just for an hour.” She also sees “coexisting” as a powerful new skill - learning to connect across cultures and break down assumptions. Now envisioning a future as a business owner again, Claudette says, “I hope this kitchen will put me where I need to be.”

A quote from a Support Worker from Brunelcare's Waverley Gardens Extra Care Housing 

“It really does help promote their independence , which in turn enriches their quality of life. Words can't explain how much it does for them on a personal level. It has boosted all three of the girls' confidence with cooking - so much so, that they are cooking proper meals in their own homes again, something all three of them have struggled with since making the transition into living with extra care.”

Ruth's Story

Ruth came to us from an organisation called Step and Stone, who support young people with learning differences to develop the skills and confidence needed for employment. She became a valued member of our Wednesday volunteer crew, helping to prepare hundreds of meals for people facing food insecurity through our Community Meals programme.

As Sue King, Work Transitions Officer and Volunteer Coordinator, explains:

"Ruth has been treated as just any other volunteer – not defined by her disability, but recognised for her strengths and potential. The kindness and respect shown by the team has helped her grow in confidence and brings her one step closer to employment."

Training Aspiring Chefs to Start Their Own Business

Our Accelerated Cooking and Entrepreneurship (ACE) programme is run in partnership with ACH to support refugees and migrants to build skills, confidence, and careers in food.

Salha is from Sudan and was one of the very first ACE Course graduates. Since training with us, she has gone on to develop a successful Sudanese food business regularly trading at markets, festivals and events. The training blends hands-on cooking (including food hygiene, baking, butchery, recipe costing, and learning about dietary needs) with business and enterprise skills, developed alongside ACH and industry experts.

Why are we Crowdfunding?

We’re Crowdfunding because care like this is underfunded, undervalued, and at risk. Access to funding is becoming harder than ever, with many long-standing funds now hugely oversubscribed. Like so many other grassroots organisations, we receive so much praise for the vital work we’re doing - but again and again, our funding applications are turned down due to intense competition, limited resources, and rising demand. As more people turn to the third sector for support, more organisations are being forced to compete for the same shrinking pots of funding - all while facing growing pressure and rising costs. We’re at a critical point of survival, and yet our work has never felt more needed.

Our Community Kitchen is not a new idea, or a pop-up project, it’s a trusted space, where people come to eat, rest, learn, and reconnect with themselves and others. It’s where sitting around the table together opens the door to a deeper conversation. Where someone gains the confidence to apply for a job, or picks up the phone to someone they trust and ask for help. Where sharing a recipe becomes a way of sharing culture, stories, and belonging.

We give people tools and space to regain confidence, build networks, gain and share skills, and become ready for anything - not through individual struggle, but through collective care. And that only works if we can stay open - week after week, year after year.

This project successfully funded on 4th December 2025