A.P.P.L.E's Kitchen and Garden Project

Aim

Please help A.P.P.L.E to continue to help young people grow and cook their own food, and provide healthy food for children in our community

A.P.P.L.E. is a registered charity (1076880) based in Acton Park in London Borough of Ealing

 A.P.P.L.E are a small charity, all our funding is going on keeping the doors open for children and young people.

 and this is our……

Kitchen and Garden Project.....

Please donate

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We work with our children and young people to  grow their own fruit and vegetables and teach them the joy of cooking, but in order to continue to run and  develop our growing and cooking programme we have a lot of work to do! 

We need to raise funds to be able to;

• re-landscape and refurbish our outdoor area to make it suitable for growing our own veg and fruit,
• decorate and re-equip our kitchen to make it more practical to cook and eat together
• fund the growing, cooking and eating together sessions with children and young people encouraging healthy food, cooking skills and family eating.

A.P.P.L.E Quote of the week:

I’ve known A.P.P.L.E since it started in 1996 when I was 10.  They’re based in Acton Park, opposite where we lived. And I spent a few weeks of a summer volunteering there when I was at drama college. It’s a really great place that makes a difference to all the young people who go there. A.P.P.L.E manages to make people happy and confident about themselves. I’ve always been really impressed at how enthusiastic the young people are and how willing they are to try new things. The Kitchen and Garden project will make a big difference by giving them more room and resources and allowing more children and young people to learn how to cook. Apple is very close to my heart, it also the heart of Acton. It needs your contributions to keep going in the amazing spirit as it has done since I was a wee nipper!

Kit Harington - Actor, in Game Of Thrones

See more of what people have to say about us here.

We are nearly at the end of our Crowdfunder project, and its looking good!
As well as the money raised so far on our Crowdfunder appeal we have raised
£2700 from our David Lloyd membership donated by the new David Lloyd Park Club
£250 donated by the Churchfield Community Association
£1000 in -kind from the LB Ealing Parks in the form of top soil and bark chip.
We’ve made a start on our garden and it looks great! please donate to help us finish the job.

And still to come
The West London Trade Union Club are holding a Quiz Night on Sunday 24th June raising money for the Kitchen and Garden Project.
The Barker Band are playing at the Betsy Trotwood pub in Farringdon on July 7th and money raised will go to A.P.P.L.E.
A big thank you to both events and to everyone who has donated and supported so far.

A.P.P.L.E. is an multi-activity centre based in Acton Park which welcomes children and young people from the surrounding area including many living in disadvantaged or difficult circumstances. It was set up as a charity in 1996,  receives no government funding and depends on grants and donations for its running costs.

One part of what we do is around cooking and eating together. 

About us

A.P.P.L.E. was started in 1996 by local parents to provide activities for children and young people in Acton. Acton includes several highly deprived wards and is part of the London Borough of Ealing. Our purpose is to support children and young people living in disadvantaged circumstances or experiencing difficulties in their lives.

We run intensive support/mentoring/ training with young people. At any time, young people can access training, work experience, learn skills and gain knowledge through the activities.

And this is cooking club on a Thursday after school that you could help us keep running. 

 How we do what we do can be seen on our website www.apple-play.com

The difference we make is best illustrated by our young people.

"I cooked at the ARTBLOCK a lot. I’ve learned how to make everything from salad dressing to bread to homemade pasta, and of course lots of cakes. As I have got older I have taken on teaching others how to cook.I have catered for A.P.P.L.E.’s events -Barn Dances, the Ealing Youth Conference, and intergenerational events and lots of family events. The good thing is that it is not just about healthy food but about fresh ingredients, and real everyday food everybody can cook.Here everyone tries everything and contributes to the ideas about what we are going to cook. It’s community food, everyone together, talking, eating and enjoying themselves. We have family meals.”JM

"Recently I have grown an interest in cooking. I have really enjoyed it because it has given me the opportunity to learn how to make various tasty meals. I also love the response we get from the children who have enjoyed the food". PM

"The cooking opportunities at A.P.P.L.E. have not only helped me to let go of my fear of change and trying new experiences but have also made me less afraid of making a mistake. The staff at A.P.P.L.E. are always there to assure you that mistakes can be made and it’s not the end of the world. As I was always assured, not all meals will come out as a Michelin starred meal, but you must take each outcome as a learning opportunity." AL

The difference you can make.

Our garden is a bit run down 

  We need funding to do a few of the boring bits like;

• Provide staff to prune back the trees and shrubs and clear the ground area
• Make a new pathway and improve the drainage,
• Make repairs to the guttering an building
• Equip our garden – water butt, compost bin, greenhouse etc.
  
  

Then we can start working with our kids to; 

• Build new flower beds and get young people planting their own veg
• Create new seating and sculpture are under the box tree
• Replant our flowers and herbs
• Keep our gardening club running and our Learn to garden sessions in the school holidays

And then there is our tiny kitchen where we cook together... if we can fit

We need to 

• Re-decorate the kitchen- new floor, paint ceiling and skirting board, add more storage and shelving.
• Re equip the kitchen- everything from new chopping boards to a bigger toaster.
• Staff 30 Cooking Club sessions in term time, and 30 Learn to Cook sessions in the school holidays

 All our funding is going on keeping the doors open for the children and young people.

For this reason we have chosen not to have any rewards. However everyone donating will get a big thank you and an invitation to a special event at which our young people will cook up a feast.

Event will be held at A.P.P.L.E on the 31st of August for more information please go to our Facebook page events.

For a longer read and to learn more about the project keep scrolling!

A bit more About us

"I can always tell which young people have been to APPLE because they are so open-minded. They will try all activities and foods, and understand the importance of difference. APPLE provides them with an opportunity to experiment with art, food, friendships and sports in a tolerant and non-judgemental environment. The effect that this has on the young people is both striking and inspiring." Colin Brent- LBE Youth and Connexions

We are based in THE ART BLOCK, a transformed derelict public toilet in Acton Park. From there we provide free, drop-in, open access activities and events in arts, sport, play, gardening, cooking and community events.  We see 100+ children each week, offer over 4000 sessions places each year for 350+ individuals. We run intensive support/mentoring/ training with young people. At any time, young people can access training, work experience, learn skills and gain knowledge through the activities.

What we do and why we do it:

A.P.P.L.E runs 4 after school sessions and 1 Saturday session a week in term time, and 5 sessions a week Mon – Fri in school holidays, (Details on the website- www.apple-play.com )

 We believe that children and young people want to try everything- making a fire in a pizza oven, skateboarding, building a go-cart, cooking lasagne, picking strawberries.

The benefits of this project are-

1. LEARN -

Children and young people learn to cook healthy, economical family meals.

2. GROW -

They learn to cook from scratch using fresh vegetables and fruit from our garden. Produce they have helped grow. They  grow in confidence with every new skill they learn. 

3. TEAMWORK. .

We share the tasks from peeling potatoes, making a cake, laying the table to washing up.

4. HOSPITALITY.

The enjoyment of sharing a meal and eating together.

A.P.P.L.E. jumps in. We are active in our local community and encourage our children and young people to become active citizens concerned with the well being of themselves, their friends, their families, neighbours and local community. Belonging and being valued creates the communities we all want to live in.

The difference we make

Over the past year we have provided 4565 sessions places for 323 children and young people. That’s 323 children cooking, gardening, trying new things, facing new challenges and working together. And our core group of over 100 regular users make up 65% of any sessions, that’s over 100 young people spending over half of their after school time and school holidays, hanging out with us. 

49% of our users are girls and 51% boys,everyone does the cooking, everyone does the gardening, everyone does the sport and everyone is equal. 

Over the year 35 of our young people have worked towards A.A.A.- A.P.P.L.E Acheivement Awards. Awards are given for completion of a set of tasks related to an activity, for example Cooking and Serving a Meal for a Peer Group, or Assisting in the Garden.

We do loads of stuff ... we do everything!

Click on the links below to find out more about some of our activities

This project successfully funded on 26th June 2018