Spokemead, part of the Kinovo Group, signed up pairs of people from across the company to support the local charity ‘Be Enriched’ for ‘The Canteens’ project based at the Castle Canteen, as part of their commitment to Social Value for Southwark council.
They teams went on the last Friday of every month between 10.30am and 3pm to make a delicious hot 3 course meal using donated surplus food and offer a social sanctuary for everyone to enjoy. Over the course of last year, the combined number of volunteer hours attributed to this charity to date has been 60hrs.
As well as volunteering for a good cause, each pair have got a lot out of going along as it has also given them the opportunity to work with people across the company that they wouldn’t normally work with daily – great team building.
Spokemead are continuing with this initiative this year and teams have already been signed up for the months ahead.
August – Liam Power and Michael Voigt
September – Dominic Pike and Carter Pike
October 2022 – Alan Francis
October 2022 – Danny Kirwan
November 2022 – Lee Gough and Liam Spencer
December 2022 – Sara Clark and Hadi Khabiri
The Canteens Project
Be Enriched creates spaces for communities to come together, congregate and communicate over a healthy and nutritious hot three course meal. We call this a Community Canteen.
Our Canteens serve a hot, healthy three-course meal every week using donated surplus food and offer a social sanctuary for everyone to enjoy. We work with supermarkets, greengrocers and markets to reduce and redirect their usable surplus food to our projects where we utilise a range of local chefs and volunteers to cook up a delicious lunch or supper. Get in touch if you want to get involved
The Canteens also improve well-being and develop a stronger sense of belonging, particularly for those who are elderly or socially isolated. We create spaces where everyone is welcome using a whole community approach so we get a great mix of ages and wonderful conversation.
Our Canteens bring people together to enjoy a meal without the stigma of receiving a handout. We also know that there is high need in our area and we specifically target vulnerable groups, including older people, those affected by addiction, ill mental health, low or no income parents and asylum seekers, and those who are unemployed.
79% of attendees said they returned to socialise with people they met there and friendships have continued outside of the meal, with guest attending events and dinners with each other.