HEAVY HEARTS

Our hearts are heavy with worry for the vulnerable people we have left behind in Northern France, who are now confronting one of the most precarious situations they have had to face on their long and difficult journeys.

There are a still a few local and international organisation on the ground doing the best they can to keep the people we serve safe, warm, fed & connected, while also tirelessly lobbying the French Government to take everyone to safety immediately.

AND we can now announce with huge relief that nearly every one of our amazing 35-strong crew of volunteers who had committed to stay as long as they possibly could, have made it home to their families. Most are self-isolating in some way or another, but all are safe and healthy today.

For now, the kitchen we all love is safely packed up but ready to be lit up at a day's notice.

In the mean time, you can sign up to our Newsletter to stay in touch and/or show interest in volunteering by clicking the links below.

Please support us with a donation if you can, this is a time to regather ourselves and come out stronger!

Big love,

RCK FAMILY

RCK UPDATE FROM SAM JONES

France has now closed it borders and is enacting strong measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

As of now, we are still permitted to provide food. We are taking every precaution possible in order to protect both our volunteers and the EXTREMELY vulnerable people who we serve.

The refugees living rough in Northern France have no access to running water, sanitation, electricity, shelter or security. The average amount of sleep is about THREE hours thanks to perpetual, violent evictions by the police. Immune systems and spirits are low after months of abuse and brutal winter weather. Our states CANNOT ignore the thousands of people living rough on our borders during this pandemic.

We must come together during these crazy times. Thankfully we have a core group of long-term volunteers who are committed to staying but funds and numbers are low and WE NEED YOUR HELP!

Please watch and share this video and DONATE what you can

Our love goes out to all of you and your families. Stay safe.

- Refugee Community Kitchen

HOW RCK IS TAKING ON COVID-19

After a few months of intense winter wind and rain, we are facing yet another storm, COVID-19.

Keeping our volunteers and the people we support, who have no shelter or sanitation, safe during this health crisis is our highest priority.

We are currently serving about 13,000 meals to hundreds of people a week. Volunteer numbers in the kitchen have drastically dropped and we foresee a huge struggle ahead to keep the food coming out. We really need your help as we come face-to-face with yet another crisis forcing us to dig deep for the vulnerable people we serve.

In the kitchen we are making changes to our operations on the ground to avoid spreading the virus to the vulnerable people we serve.

We recommend checking the Foreign Office Website guidelines on travelling to and from France over the coming weeks as this may also affect your travel insurance and our operations.

We are currently accepting international volunteers but please remember if you present any symptoms, have had contact with people who've been diagnosed, or plan to travel from an affected area, it is best to stay at home and consider making a donation instead of volunteering.

Please donate & volunteer with us if it is safe for you to do so.

Remember if you present any symptoms, have had contact with people who've been diagnosed, or plan to travel from an affected area, it is best to stay at home.

PS. Please email us if you'd like more details about how we are handling COVID-19.

SERVING FOOD WITH DIGNITY

In the last 3 days alone we have prepared approximately 5,000 hot nourishing meals for people in northern France & Brussels. This figure does not include the dry food packs we give out, or our UK Outreach project.

We need YOU to help us keep serving up food with dignity. Any contribution at all is much valued and appreciated To donate, click below…

Photo credit: Abdul saboor photographs