Community Kitchen and Cafe

About the programme

At the start of 2023 we fully renovated our commercial kitchen and café space and embarked upon a new partnership with Share Community, a charity that provides specialist programmes and activities for adults with learning disabilities, autism, and mental health needs.

Share’s aim is to help people live happier, healthier, and more independent lives, helping them to feel more included and valued in the community. In line with this mission Share’s kitchen and café programme at BPT provides wonderful opportunities for their students keen to cook and work in hospitality.

The partnership between BPT and Share was established from May 2023 to provide a fully operational kitchen and café space for Share to train students to cook, bake cakes and make barista-standard coffee. Share continues to welcome and embrace BPT daytime community groups including participants at Over 55 sessions and mental health intervention programmes who use the café for post-session tea and toast social get-togethers.

As the programme continues to develop, Share has started offering catering for on-site meetings and events for BPT, our partners, and external bookers. In time, Share will also provide cooked meals for participants at BPT holiday camps; and aim to open as a café to the general public providing reasonably priced lunches, cakes and hot beverages.

Free healthy meals

A significant aspect of Share’s service to our community is free meal provision: as students learn to batch cook, they are also packaging and labelling meals which are distributed both to BPT partners on site and other local organisations, and as a walk-in collection service to local residents.

Share and their students are cooking and distributing on average 700 meals per month to local residents most in need to help BPT’s fight against the cost-of-living crisis.

How it works?

Local residents can come to collect meals for their household any time between 11:30-15:30 on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

For more information please drop in during the above hours or contact Share’s Food Hub Coordinator Phoebe.