Community fund – Granville Community Kitchen

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16 Jul 2020 - 2 minute read

At National Grid ESO we’re proud to be supporting our colleagues and their local communities via our community fund. Jonny Gallagher, Senior External Affairs Manager explains how Granville Community Kitchen have been helping people in North London during the pandemic…

The Granville Community Kitchen (GCK) is a well-established community led organisation that exists to empower the community through food. It is building an ethical, sustainable, local, and culturally diverse food hub offering food centred activities, services, education and training.

The GCK is based in the Granville Community centre in South Kilburn, one of the most deprived areas of London. At the GCK, we believe that everyone has the right to fresh, good quality, healthy food that does not cost the earth. Crucially, the GCK is not a food bank, it exists to empower the community by raising us all up together through solidarity, rather than providing charity.

Our food comes from three main sources:

  1. Nutritious surplus food from restaurants and supermarkets;
  2. High quality pre-prepared meals from local restaurants; and
  3. Donations of food from local residents.

 

 

COVID-19

During the current crisis the GCK has had to change its model.  The South Kilburn community has experienced severe pressure on both wages and access to food, due to supermarket supply chain issues and a lack of food on shelves due to bulk buying by the public. As a direct result, we’ve started providing food parcels to those who need them, offering support to all without means testing.

The GCK has provided food twice weekly (Wednesdays and Fridays), and over the last few months demand has gone from around 40 people and families per week to over 100 – and this number is still rising.

The financial support from National Grid ESO has enabled us to buy fridges and freezers – allowing us to store any surplus food we receive for future weeks. It has also enabled us to purchase fresh food directly, ensuring that we can continue to provide healthy and nutritious food to our local community.