History
'Since 2014, Open Kitchen Social Club (OKSC) has provided weekly community social eating events in Sheffield, UK. It was originally a convergence of the work of Out/Side/Film and Sheffield Refugee And Asylum Seeker Action Group (RASAG), who had been working together on a weekly IT support session. The primary work of the weekly IT session was to support destitute asylum seekers with online skills, creating email and social media accounts, to build an online community of solidarity. Part of this weekly community session was spent preparing and sharing a meal together. In May 2014, Katelyn, Nes & Firas co-founded Open Kitchen Social Club, focusing on the food and the social elements of their shared community projects, holding our first OKSC event in June 2014 at Regather Co-operative.
In early 2015 we moved to St Andrew's URC, which remains home to our core Monday event. OKSC is now a staple in the weekly life of the Broomhall area of the city. Over the years we have seen an increase in the numbers of British people attending alongside sanctuary seekers, as increasing numbers of people struggle with isolation and zero or low income. All are welcomed to our social space and free meal, open to all comers in the city each Monday lunchtime.
In 2018 we started providing a second weekly meal on Tuesdays at the newly opened home of City of Sanctuary, who we continue to work closely alongside. The Sanctuary is a safe space for asylum seekers and refugees in the city centre, so this meal is primarily for that community of sanctuary seekers & those working with them. In 2019, we began collaborating with another natural ally in the city, The Foodhall Project, to run a new pilot project on Wednesdays. Universal Cafe was a slightly different project, in that it focused on those in receipt of Universal Credit, and, in addition to a delicious hot meal, was a drop-in advice centre for those struggling with the shift to the enormously controversial new benefit.
Since we began, the benefits of social eating have been increasingly highlighted. We have been involved in research with Sheffield City Council and other local partners, including both Sheffield Universities, into development of food strategies based on the principles and benefits of social eating, as pioneered by small community groups like ourselves and Foodhall. We are proud to be a member of the National Food Service network that sprung up from the Foodhall project. As Sheffield grew to become something of a centre for the social eating movement, we have continued to develop, learning from partner projects as well as from the experiences shared through conversations with our community.
When the pandemic hit, we began a delivery service, preparing around 150 meals each week and creating delivery boxes, which included meals, donations, fresh fruit & vegetables. Since April 2020, our team of six delivered an estimated 12,000 meals to destitute asylum seekers, refugees, migrants and those in food poverty all over Sheffield. When we delivered the food boxes, we found that (for some) we were the only people making contact, so making a bit of time for a chat was just as crucial as the lifeline food delivery. It was a great relief to all be able to meet together in person again after that!
To ensure that the people who need to know about us are able to find us, we now have an outreach lead alongside a number of partner services, such as Assist, Voluntary Action Sheffield, City of Sanctuary and the weekly multi-agency drop-in for asylum seekers (including new arrivals) at Victoria Hall, where people are signposted towards us. Many also find us through word-of-mouth. On average we currently prepare and share free hot meals with 200 people each week.
In early 2015 we moved to St Andrew's URC, which remains home to our core Monday event. OKSC is now a staple in the weekly life of the Broomhall area of the city. Over the years we have seen an increase in the numbers of British people attending alongside sanctuary seekers, as increasing numbers of people struggle with isolation and zero or low income. All are welcomed to our social space and free meal, open to all comers in the city each Monday lunchtime.
In 2018 we started providing a second weekly meal on Tuesdays at the newly opened home of City of Sanctuary, who we continue to work closely alongside. The Sanctuary is a safe space for asylum seekers and refugees in the city centre, so this meal is primarily for that community of sanctuary seekers & those working with them. In 2019, we began collaborating with another natural ally in the city, The Foodhall Project, to run a new pilot project on Wednesdays. Universal Cafe was a slightly different project, in that it focused on those in receipt of Universal Credit, and, in addition to a delicious hot meal, was a drop-in advice centre for those struggling with the shift to the enormously controversial new benefit.
Since we began, the benefits of social eating have been increasingly highlighted. We have been involved in research with Sheffield City Council and other local partners, including both Sheffield Universities, into development of food strategies based on the principles and benefits of social eating, as pioneered by small community groups like ourselves and Foodhall. We are proud to be a member of the National Food Service network that sprung up from the Foodhall project. As Sheffield grew to become something of a centre for the social eating movement, we have continued to develop, learning from partner projects as well as from the experiences shared through conversations with our community.
When the pandemic hit, we began a delivery service, preparing around 150 meals each week and creating delivery boxes, which included meals, donations, fresh fruit & vegetables. Since April 2020, our team of six delivered an estimated 12,000 meals to destitute asylum seekers, refugees, migrants and those in food poverty all over Sheffield. When we delivered the food boxes, we found that (for some) we were the only people making contact, so making a bit of time for a chat was just as crucial as the lifeline food delivery. It was a great relief to all be able to meet together in person again after that!
To ensure that the people who need to know about us are able to find us, we now have an outreach lead alongside a number of partner services, such as Assist, Voluntary Action Sheffield, City of Sanctuary and the weekly multi-agency drop-in for asylum seekers (including new arrivals) at Victoria Hall, where people are signposted towards us. Many also find us through word-of-mouth. On average we currently prepare and share free hot meals with 200 people each week.
Ethos
Originally conceived as a way to support destitute asylum seekers, refugees, and migrants, we quickly began to welcome anyone in food or social poverty in the wider Sheffield community. From the beginning, food has always been provided free of charge to ensure that it is accessible to those in most need and that everyone remains on equal terms. We briefly experimented with a ‘pay as you feel’ system but found it a barrier to our core community of destitute asylum seekers.
Participants are encouraged to get involved with cooking, cleaning, hosting the social café sessions and providing peer support to one another. The social spaces and the kitchen are places where anyone can get involved. It very much works to everyone’s benefit to invite our global community to share delicious recipes from their home countries.
Participants are encouraged to get involved with cooking, cleaning, hosting the social café sessions and providing peer support to one another. The social spaces and the kitchen are places where anyone can get involved. It very much works to everyone’s benefit to invite our global community to share delicious recipes from their home countries.
Community
As well as our Weekly Cafes we enjoy occasional events and trips with our members, plus a lively social media sharing of news, mainly via WhatsApp, Facebook & Instagram. We also share training sessions plus music, cultural celebrations, arts and crafts activities and many work experience opportunities to cook at commercial events.
We work hard to maintain a strong community that flourishes across cultural divides. We have seen relationships, friendships and a unique peer support network grow, where people from all backgrounds gather to help cook and share stories, look out for one another, wash and tidy up together after eating, help each other fill in forms, make calls and play games together.
Because many of our attendees and volunteers have been accessing our service for some time, they help maintain our core values and ethos, so all feel safe and welcomed - including new arrivals. This continuity also helps us spot when things are starting to go wrong, so we can put extra support in place for individuals to help them keep attending and receiving support. We also have a number of bi- and tri-lingual volunteers to bridge language gaps.
We work hard to maintain a strong community that flourishes across cultural divides. We have seen relationships, friendships and a unique peer support network grow, where people from all backgrounds gather to help cook and share stories, look out for one another, wash and tidy up together after eating, help each other fill in forms, make calls and play games together.
Because many of our attendees and volunteers have been accessing our service for some time, they help maintain our core values and ethos, so all feel safe and welcomed - including new arrivals. This continuity also helps us spot when things are starting to go wrong, so we can put extra support in place for individuals to help them keep attending and receiving support. We also have a number of bi- and tri-lingual volunteers to bridge language gaps.
Recipes and Policies
Here's some of our recipes, with estimated quantities. Firas, our Head Chef & Project Lead, doesn't work from written recipes :)
Fragrant Rice
Tepsi
Mohamara
Pakora
Baked Ratatouille
Samosas and Spring Rolls
Tabbouleh
Baba Ganoush
Hummus
Fragrant Rice
Tepsi
Mohamara
Pakora
Baked Ratatouille
Samosas and Spring Rolls
Tabbouleh
Baba Ganoush
Hummus
Open Kitchen Social Club CIO is a Registered Charity Number 1206495