Enriching Communities

It's been a busy time across Be Enriched, as we continue to focus on reducing social isolation through food. Alongside the work of our Community Canteens, Food Bus and Kids Clubs, we’ve also been creating new ways we can support the Lambeth, Southwark and Wandsworth communities.

Over the last three months, we have continued to work closely with volunteers to turn surplus ingredients into a hot, healthy three course meal for anyone who needs good food and conversation. It's also been really good to see more and more corporate companies giving up their time to join us in the kitchen, and we have more groups booking for later in the year.

We are in the process of setting up a new Food Float, to support our Food Bus. This will help us to extend the work of this unique double decker. We are also preparing to support families across the summer, while schools are closed, and there's reduced access to free meals for children.

Finally, we are working with our sister social enterprise, Brixton People's Kitchen, to open a new community shop in Clapham. This aims to replicate the offering of the Food Bus, and we hope to open this in the not-too-distant future.

We really appreciate the support of all our donors, especially those who have signed up to provide regularly each month. If you feel able to make another donation, or even become a regular giver, we would be truly grateful.

We continue to do everything we can to bring people together over a hot, healthy meal.

Our Community Canteens now include Clapham, Elephant and Castle, plus Tooting. Every week, volunteers give up their time to turn surplus food into a three course meal that neighbours can get to know each other over. We also look for ways that we can add to these sessions, and recently welcomed a local community organisation to provide advice on energy savings.

Our first-of-its-kind Food Bus, is currently reviewing it's route through South London, to ensure as many people as possible have access to affordable ingredients. This will include supporting NHS key workers more in the future. At the same time, we're exploring a pop-up shop in Clapham, to increase access to fruit, vegetables and cupboard staples.

Our latest Kids Club was run in both Lambeth and Wandsworth, providing fun and food for children while schools were closed. We received really positive feedback for these events and are looking forward to the next ones.

We appreciate the support of everyone who makes a donation or gives up their time to help us #EnrichingCommunities

At Be Enriched, we are fortunate to have some of the most dedicated interns who are committed to our work. We recently had some new interns start, and as part of their induction, they are encouraged to spend the day volunteering at one of our canteens to see what our projects are like. Below is the experience of Anna G, one of our office interns.

------------

I recently moved to south London and in the fast-paced rhythm of the city I was struck with a feeling of disorientation. With so much happening around me the city had overloaded me and I was losing the ability to understand the issues, as well as the positive forces in my community, an experience which I’m sure many are familiar with. For me it was time to seek out the people working towards positive social change and that’s when I found Be Enriched.

Last Monday I helped to cook a community meal at Be Enriched’s Elephant & Castle canteen. The day started with 4 large bags of vegetables, 3 volunteers, 1 Canteen leader, and lots of motivation. Within seconds the 4 of us had looked at the miscellaneous fruits and vegetables, put together a 3-course menu, and set ourselves to cook for 30 guests.

Although I’ve volunteered in similar projects, my experience at Be Enriched’s canteen was incredibly different. The process of cooking and serving healthy meals from surplus food remained the same, but the feeling of genuine community and the perspective it gave me on my new home was so much warmer than I could have expected. Volunteers and guests were not divided by judgement, background or hierarchy, and in a small pocket of time the rush of the city faded as a community came together to talk, eat, and share a genuine appreciation of the food which had been cooked.

The main thing I noticed about those attending the meal was their positivity- regardless of background everyone seemed to be smiling and happy to tell each other funny stories about their week. There were some groups which knew each other from regular attendance at the meals but they warmly welcomed newer people into conversations with real interest in what they had to say.

Over the day I was given cooking tips, a boost in confidence in my cooking skills, friendly conversations, laughter, and a filling meal. Nobody there felt powerless to enact change as by the simple action of cooking, eating, and talking everyone was doing their part in combatting food waste, food poverty, and social isolation.

Winter is coming....

We loved Game of Thrones when it was running, but on a serious note winter is a time when a lot of our guests struggle. Not only is it cold but the heating bills go up, clothes need to be warm and food needs to be hot. Winter is a more expensive time even without the presents. A lot of our guests and benificiaries get really ill and we worry about them.

NHS England has just brought in some new advice and they're offering free flu vaccines for 2-3 year olds and over 65's. So that will help with some of the illnesses.

If you don't fit into that bracket, heres a recipe for some warming soup to chase away the cold

Tomato and chilly soup (We know how to spell Chilli!)

• 1 chopped carrot
• 1chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons of oil to fry with (not olive or coconut!)
• 1 ltr vegetable stock
• 1 can chopped tomatoes
• cherry tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• fresh red chilli – as much as you can bare, chopped
• 1 chopped clove garlic
• 4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• couple of leaves of fresh basil
• sea salt
• black pepper

Instructions

1. In a large pan fry the carrot, onion, celery, garlic and chill in oili. Cover and leave to cook until the carrots have started to soften.
2. Add the vegetable stock, chopped tomatoes, whole cherry tomatoes and tomato puree to the pan. Cover and bring to the boil.
3. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
4. Remove the soup from the heat and add the basil leaves and balsamic vinegar.
5. Blend the soup until it is smooth, or leave chunky
6. Serve with toast or cheese toastie

Apologies - this is a photo of a different soup we made with a side of roasted cauliflower!

Hello, my name is Charles Schonberger.

I am originally from Alexandria, Virginia, and am currently staying in London for an internship with Be Enriched.

I have been working at Be Enriched for just short of a month now, and it has already been an eye-opening experience. Working with the company at their numerous community canteens have been unlike anything I’ve done previously during my short time in the working world.

At the canteens, I have met many people of different ages, ethnicities and backgrounds that otherwise I never would have. The stories from their lives have been transformational on me. Hearing of their hardships, how they have overcome them, and where they are now in life because of having dealt with these dilemmas has been inspirational. Their stories of triumph over adversity all have something similar in common, the help from others around them. Depending on the story, they will even point to a friend across the table to give credit to them for their help. The bond these people share is nothing short of astounding. They have been able to bond thanks to their difficult times, and it has made them stronger and better people because of it.

Through my experiences of meeting these lovely people, I’ve been shown parts of the world I was otherwise ignorant about before. I like to think of the people at the canteens as friends, and I look forward to seeing them for the rest of my time in London.

Cheers!