Community Kitchen needs your urgent help !

A grassroots community kitchen in Tameside that has fed more than 700 people since opening is now calling on local businesses and residents for urgent support to help keep its doors open.

The Thompson Cross Community Kitchen, founded by Julie Mallinson, has become a vital lifeline for families and individuals struggling with the cost of living and freezing winter conditions. Over the Christmas period alone, hundreds of hot meals, soups, and care packages of hats, scarves and gloves were distributed to those in need.

“We’ve been able to give out food, warm clothing, and a sense of community,” said Julie. “At Christmas, we served hot meals on Christmas Eve, the 27th and 28th, and again in January. For some, it was their only warm meal that week.”

Supported by partners including AC Solutions, the Tameside Meals Project and several supermarkets such as Marks & Spencer, Aldi and Fair Share. The kitchen has made impressive use of donated food to prepare nutritious meals even joking that the total weight of food distributed was equivalent to a “herd of small elephants.”

Beyond emergency food, the kitchen has held three slow cooker workshops where attendees learned to prepare affordable home-cooked meals and received a slow cooker to take home. “It’s been fantastic,” Julie added. “People are gaining confidence and cooking for their own families.”

The project has also worked with home schooled children who have begun cooking full meals for their families, nurturing new skills and possibly a few future chefs. Uniforms have even been donated for young volunteers and kitchen helpers.

However, after a recent environmental health inspection, the project now faces new challenges. The kitchen run from the side of Julie’s home must undergo several upgrades to meet hygiene and safety standards, including sealing exposed woodwork, tiling walls and fully enclosing the space to be rodent-proof.

“We’re doing everything we can,” explained Julie. “We’ve already varnished the wood, but we need help tiling the walls and enclosing the structure. We don’t have a budget for these works, so we’re appealing to local tradespeople and businesses for materials, advice and support.”

Julie has even offered part of their home to make the kitchen possible. “We’re giving our lives to this project,” she said. “All of our team are volunteers, and every penny raised goes straight back into feeding people. We just need a bit of help to keep going.”

Businesses or individuals able to assist with tiling, enclosure work, or material donations are encouraged to contact The Power of Resilience through their social media pages or email thepowerofresilience@outlook.com. You can also visit their website at https://thepowerofresilience.co.uk/