Hello folks,
It's time for us to ask for help. Northern Soul Kitchen is a not for profit food waste initiative that runs a café on West St in Berwick Upon Tweed. Because of the current climate and perhaps because of our business model at this time we need financial support from our community.
Northern Soul Kitchen was set up by bringing together people in our community to turn a derelict space into somewhere for everyone to enjoy a hot meal or a cuppa. We have been using a "pay what you can" structure this entire time - even when we began to send out food parcels during the pandemic when we couldn't open the café.
Back in 2016 what we were setting out to do was a relatively new idea and food waste was still a taboo subject. Since then we've seen not only an influx in similar community projects (which is fantastic) but sadly also an increasing need for these types of places in our communities.
Since then we have served 1000s of meals from our tiny space on West St. We've also intercepted quite literally tonnes of food - approximately 4 tonnes per year on average.
"Pay What You Can"
It is exactly what it sounds like... we ask that you only pay what you can. This could also be more of an energetic exchange if money is tight for you. People help us by collecting the food from supermarkets or volunteering in the kitchen in return for some delicious grub.
This "pay what you can" structure is something we want to keep. We believe it is part of who we are and is an important thing to offer during these harsh times. But we can't lie and say it is hugely sustainable right now which is why we are asking for support so we can continue to offer this service.
Who needs NSK?
People use our space to get together without worrying about the bill, important community projects have begun here or used our space to meet, homeless people drop by for hot meals and cups of coffee free of charge when needed, families use our Share Nook to stock up their fridges, elderly people and those who are socially isolated otherwise have made friends here and gained inspiration from what food they can get here for their dinners, we offer a safe space for parents to breastfeed, we are open LGBTQIA+ allies with a queer woman at the helm, volunteers get involved in a social and environmental project and gain a support network through our team. We are not just a café - we are a hub for every walk of life and we want to carry on.
Why are we Crowdfunding?
We've been lucky to receive outside funding in the past however these processes are often slow and come with their own rules and procedures. To put it simply we are in desperate needed of financial support and quickly.
We are very aware that times are very tough and we do not want to be tone deaf to the cost of living crisis that is effecting us all. Please only consider donating if this feels right for you at this time. All donations big and small will make a difference.
We'll be using the money we raise to keep us going, towards our increasing running costs and to also give us a chance to invest in ourselves in ways that could help us create more revenue and therefore make the project more sustainable for the future.
This will include a rejig of our current premises to maximise the space, the investment of a proper coffee machine so we can offer customers high quality drinks, new signage outside to make it who we are much clearer to those passing by and helping us to update our very small (but mighty) kitchen space that needs some attention that we just can't afford ourselves.
Thank you for taking the time to read this all. You can find out more about how we work and how it all began on our website www.northernsoulkitchen.co.uk
We are also very active on our socials so check us out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram if you're interested.