The Central London team plays sous chef to Enfield's Cooking Champions

We were delighted to lend a helping hand to the brilliant Cooking Champions charity last week as part of our ongoing relationship with Enfield Council.

Our Central London team – Andrew Glover, Peter Wiggins, Rodney Unsworth and Reece Andrade – rolled up their sleeves on Tuesday for an experience they would not forget in a hurry.

Andrew chose to volunteer at Cooking Champions as he recognised that the charity was doing a job unlike no other in the North London borough. Primarily a foodbank, the charity also supports vulnerable people in providing education and training – using the power of food to unite!

A key decider for Andrew and the team to volunteer at Cooking Champions was the belief that this service was providing a great relief to others, and something that would be sorely missed in its absence.

“They’ve got some really good people around them… what really surprised me was how much they have achieved with the small amount of help they have had.” – Andrew Glover, Director, Central London

Our team has committed to a series of shifts involving unloading donations, packing food parcels for delivery, preparing produce for the cooking classes, and picking up food donations from fellow food charity, the Felix Project.

Additionally, Eddisons has also been able to support Cooking Champions in finding contractors to complete odd jobs around St Matthew’s Church, where they are based, for no charge. Selfless tasks like this help charities like Cooking Champions grow and glow, and we’re so thankful to the handymen, investors, and volunteers who we have approached for extra help.

Along with helping with cost of buying produce for the foodbank, Eddisons is also putting money towards extending their services that are used by so many. Classes for men over 50, ‘open kitchen’ opportunities for unemployed people to use Cooking Champions’ facilities, free hot meals and food parcel outreach are just some of the options offered to the Enfield community.

Cooking Champions receives lots of food donations from local businesses and residents and are also funded by a catering company which runs alongside the charity whose profits go directly to operating and managing the enterprise. Cooking Champions has something going on almost every day and long may it continue.

Clare Donovan, founder of Cooking Champions, comments:

"We are so grateful for the support Eddisons has given us, it has already made a big difference.

"Our charity started as an emergency response to COVID, unfortunately the need for our services is greater than ever. The simple, yet appalling, fact is that people cannot afford to feed their families during this cost of living crisis. It is commonly reported by our recipients that they skip meals. This obviously has huge implications for their physical and mental health.

"We are working hard to provide multiple strategies to address the short term emergency situation (our food bank and free community meals) but also the longer term which includes cooking lessons and healthy eating workshops. Volunteering to support any of these projects really does improve the quality of people's lives."

Thank you to Clare Donovan and the team for welcoming us into your amazing space!