Brighton Community Kitchen

There’s always something good cooking at the Community Kitchen in Brighton.

Whether that’s innovative ideas for reducing food waste or a sumptuous Indian feast from one of the South Coast’s top chefs, their team are always using food to make positive changes in people’s lives.

The Kitchen was the idea of Brighton & Hove Food Partnership – a not-for-profit organisation which has 15 years’ experience as a vital hub for information, inspiration and connection around food. Its vision of a cookery school for all is now proving a reality following a successful crowdfunding campaign in 2018.

The Kitchen is first and foremost a cookery school – and a varied menu of events sees classes covering a range of cookery traditions and skills, from sushi-rolling to vegan baking, from fermentation to African cuisine. Sessions are for cooks of all levels and take place in a state-of-the-art teaching kitchen, centrally located on Queens Road in Brighton. All finish with a sociable sit-down meal at the long, shared dining table.

Then there are the Masterclasses – events which book out super-quickly as some of the best local chefs and food experts share their knowhow. Many of these top chefs offer their services free, to support the vision behind the Kitchen. And that’s because the Kitchen is no ordinary cookery school.

“Now I know I can look after myself if anything happens to my family. The course has made me feel so much better knowing that I’m going to be OK. It has given me a sense of peace.”

It is run as a social enterprise – all profits made from classes, events and the hire of the space as a venue go to fund community cooking sessions. These bring cooking skills and shared meals to people experiencing deprivation, isolation, poor health and other life challenges. Community sessions include cookery activities for people with dementia, people with learning difficulties and those living on low incomes. The team works with local primary schools so children can learn about the benefits of healthy, tasty cooking. Their newest course, Kickstart Catering, provides support and advice to unemployed people who are interested in careers in the food industry. These courses makes lasting changes to habits and behaviours which improve lives. 

Brighton & Hove Food Partnership has long understood to power of food as an agent for positive change and the Kitchen is helping make that possible for more and more people. Meanwhile, its other work – helping people and organisations to grow food, buy locally, eat a healthy diet and waste less food – continues. This ranges from campaigning about food poverty and supporting food banks to helping food businesses get together to ‘ditch the plastic’ locally.

If you want to support this work, there are plenty of ways you can get involved – from attending a cookery class to booking a private event at the Kitchen, volunteering or even making a donation.

Find out more or get in touch:

www.bhfood.org.uk

info@bhfood.org.uk