Not our words but these words express how we, all our volunteers and supporters believe everyday and act on those beliefs
An insight into our London kitchen operation!
The kitchen operates to a whiteboard to do list. Our volunteers come in and wash, chop and prepare the days menu. Absolutely no previous cooking experience is required. The kitchen team leader for the day will be on hand to offer guidance and also plenty of tea!
We try our hardest to ensure that all our food comes from sustainable sources and have partnered with several charities such as the Felix Project.
Once the food has been prepared, our distribution teams arrives to the kitchen to collect the food before heading out to one of several distribution sites across London.
Alongside distributing food we we offer hot drinks and an opportunity for the local community to come together and have a chat.
Vegetables by the ton
Cooking over 14,000 (July 2022) vegetarian meals in a month requires a significant amount of vegetables.
Once a week we place a vegetable order. This order is determined by our current stock levels and what kind of food we expect to cook that week.
In July alone we went through:
- 1900kg of onions
- 1200kg of potatoes
- 640kg of carrots
- 240kg tomatoes
Our vegetable order costs around ~£1.5k a week. We are only able to continue our work through the support of our community. Placing vegetables orders in advance requires us to be confident of our future income. This is why reoccurring monthly donations play such an important role in the stability and longevity of RCK.
Individual reoccurring donations of £5/month collectively have a massive impact and ensure that we are able to continue serving warm food to those that need it. If you are interested in finding out a bit more about where donations go or signing up to a reoccurring donation please head to our justgiving page!!:
A Day in the Life of RCK
Each day we go out on several food distributions in Calais and Dunkirk. This requires extensive preparation and coordination across the whole kitchen team.
The distribution leads for the day inform the mains and carbs chef how many meals they are expecting to distribute in each site (the numbers are based on previous distributions and other factors such as weather and if other organisations will be in the area the time).
The prep lead is responsible for ensuring that the correct quantity of vegetables is prepped for mains. This means the kitchen works non-stop to get the food out on time while trying to produce as many additional sides/extras for the condiments table as possible.
During the morning the distribution leads will brief the distribution teams. These briefings focus on 3 points, the practicalities of how RCK runs a distribution, volunteer security and safety and finally field etiquette (how RCK behaves while on distribution).
The final job before leaving for distribution is to pack the vans. We pack the vans with; a hygiene create, tables, bins, spices, water/tea/coffee, plates, cups, spoons etc.
The team then drives to distribution sites and distributes the fresh food produced in the kitchen that day. Once finished the team head back to the kitchen, clean down the vans, tables, cool down any remaining food (to ensure it is a safe temperate before going into the fridge). For the distribution teams the day finishes with a debriefing which looks at practical/logistical areas to improve, any emotional responses/thoughts from the distribution that people may want to share and finally signposting to some resources that RCK has to help with volunteer welfare.
Sam Jones' Punjabi Lobia in the Observer's 20 best curries
Great to see co-founder Sam's delicious recipe for Punjabi Lobia included in Observer Food Monthly's 20 Best Curries! It's a pleasure to see a Refugee Community Kitchen staple alongside recipes by chefs like Andi Oliver, Meera Sodha and Madhur Jaffrey.
"At Refugee Community Kitchen we make many variations of this curry, which is incredibly popular with all the communities we serve, as well as providing much-needed protein and energy" - Sam
You can find the full recipe here
We need Volunteers!
We are still serving in Calais but we are in desperate need of volunteers! We have a wonderful team who are working incredibly hard, but they need support as Winter sets in. We would love to see some familiar faces return to the stoves but newcomers are more welcome than ever! You don't need kitchen experience, just a willingness to work hard and get stuck in. We can teach you everything you need to know, from prep to cooking to serving.
If you're interested and can stay for 2 weeks or more, please get in touch here: volunteering@refugeecommunitykitchen.org
HUMANS OF RCK: Izzy
"I learned so much in my time with RCK and was constantly surrounded by a wonderful supportive team! In what is a dire situation, there is so much love, solidarity and humanity to be found." - Izzy
A huge thank you Izzy for her calming, steady, funny, bright and lovely energy in Calais over the last year. We wish you all the best on your new adventures and a well-earned rest along the way! A big thanks for bringing all your friends and family we love them too
HUMANS OF RCK: Quentin
Quentin works tirelessly in the bowels of RCK sorting out the most intricate of our marketing and social media problems. He is endlessly generous with his time, money and positivity, even finding time to drop off beer and chocolate at the gates of the warehouse when he passes by. He manages all of this alongside being an amazing dad, husband & beautiful human. We have so much gratitude - Love from all the RCK fam!